Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone

For the past few years I have been working on a new novel set in 1863, during the American Civil War. The story began as a writing prompt for a children's book company that was seeking ghost stories for young readers. I was hesitant to launch in on a spooky genre, which might deliberately frighten my family audiences, so I wrote the short story for older, more mature YA and Adult book enthusiasts. The Civil War history of my home town of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, came to life so vividly in my memory, that the characters in the novel sprang to life.

As I was swept up in a genre that was not my accustomed fantasy territory, I found the whole process refreshing. As an artist, I have many sides. Some are more in the shadows of my subconscious than others, but every side contributes to my psyche and to the scope of my observations of human nature. The ghost story centered around three orphans, the Briley children of north Georgia, who make their way through Tennessee, Kentucky, and southern Ohio, in the middle of the terrifying and depraved world of the failing Confederacy.

The tale grew to include elements of horror and the harsh realities of slavery, cowardice, cruelty, prejudice, and superstition. I still maintained a sense of fantasy and magic, but the primary theme emerged as a Coming of Age journey for fifteen-year-old Clem Briley as he faced the prospect of entering the war himself and dealing with the death of his father, a Union cavalry officer. When I began the book, I did not know where it was headed, only that the inspiration to write the story was compelling. I felt I could not abandon the orphans in mid-chapter, but that I must complete their escape from a world of savagery and cruelty in both the seen and unseen realms. I kept going and completed the first draft in early August.

My final analysis is that I believe CIVIL GHOSTS to be some of my very best writing. I had no idea how pertinent the material would be for our times. The humble ghost story rumbled into a political and social protest. Clem confronts social inequality and the impact of violent aggression within humankind. He emerges on his own terms, but his challenges reminded me of the harshness of COLD MOUNTAIN combined with the dread of a good STEVEN KING novel. Certainly out of my usual genre, CIVIL GHOSTS is nonetheless very important to me, and I hope someday, will be very important to an agent.

So take the plunge! Begin that first chapter of the novel you always wanted to write...and let it go. Writing outside your comfort zone is rewarding and strengthening. You never know where it will lead!