Strong Points

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I was listening to a writing podcast yesterday and I heard one of the “experts” say that writers should determine what they don’t enjoy doing or don’t do well and focus on shoring up these weak points, and the others on the pod all chimed in with agreement.
 
Probably because it seems like a sensible course of action.
 
But with art—as opposed to engineering, for example—“sensible” doesn’t always equal “successful.”
 
I know a woman who can’t write in 1st person for anything. She said when she’s in the head of a character, narrating the story as that person, it just doesn’t work for her. The sensible thing would have been for her to find some writing prompts and start writing shorter scenes in 1st person, working up to short stories and then attempting to write book-length fiction with a 1st person POV. Especially since her interest is mostly in YA-ish areas, where 1st person is pretty common.
 
But instead…
 
Instead she just wrote in 3rd person—which she really enjoyed and which felt natural to her—and she ended up cutting a swath through the market… going on to have over 70 books published by major imprints, including several big bestsellers plus a movie made from one of her books. And she still doesn’t vibe with 1st person.
 
Or how about the seminal SF author who famously stated he couldn’t write relationship stuff—especially about romance—yet went on to have over three-hundred books published, across multiple genres, including some bestselling novels that are still beloved (and widely read) over 70 years after they were initially published…???
 
Or what about the currently-hot author who admits dialog isn’t his strong point. So he writes books with way more interior monolog than dialog… which then go on to sell millions of copies and be made into films…???
 
This isn’t a post on POV or subject matter or dialog or any other craft-centric topic. (Other than to say: Ignore all the pundits online and for God’s sake just do what works for you and your writing brain.)
 
Or a post on the fact that a lot of online writing advice is just people telling you how they work, which may have zero relationship to you or your writing. (Which is largely true, but then you probably already knew that.)
 
It’s this: I don’t know what a “well-rounded” writer is, other than the fact that I don’t want to be one.
 
And neither do you.
 
Think about the sort of adjectives we usually attach to beloved writers: Unique. Voicey. Individual. Absorbing. Expressive. Urgent. Compelling. Distinctive. Emotive. Vibey. Gripping. One-of-a-kind. Inimitable.
 
The above is basically a list of antonyms for “well-rounded.”
 
Yet the process of making a list of areas where you have either lower interest or lower mastery and then setting about raising your abilities in these areas is largely the recommended path one would take to shore up these “weak areas” and become more well-rounded as a writer.
 
And… this is the standard advice when someone says they can’t write description or don’t like to write action scenes or whatever.
 
Maybe… just maybe… you’d be better off doing what you enjoy and playing to your strengths (which are likely the same thing) instead of trying to be all things to all readers.
 
The brilliant John Wooden once said, “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
 
There’s a reason you like the parts of writing you like. It has to do with the unique way the creative part of your brain works… something about that particular aspect of writing tickles your brain in a manner that makes it come up with new and interesting ways of expressing it. (And the reverse applies to the areas you’re not that interested in… and thus not that good at.)
 
Yes, if you desperately want to write a romcom yet you don’t enjoy writing about romantic relationships, you’re going to have to do some serious homework to shore up that aspect of your writing.
 
But assuming your literary desires line up with your literary strengths (which is the case with most of us, for obvious reasons) then perhaps the best advice simply might be something my dad always said, “Do what you do best!”
 
After all, a well-rounded knife never cut through anything.
 
Happy writing!