Hi Deleyna!
(AKA--the Author Website Whisperer, in my world)

I couldn't take the website risks without you though, my friend! The World Anvil seems like a fascinating tool to collaborate with other authors, too. It could be a cross over for video game stories and such as well. I've only dipped into that tool, but look forward to investigating it more.
Enjoy your worldbuilding fun!
Kris

Hi Ellen,
I was thinking of your research for your novels. The Hobo Code and Crystal Memories both involved research into the Midwestern places they occurred. A day trip would be an awesome way to become inspired in your writing. Let me know how that goes!
Kris

Thank you Dale, for sharing your experience and insights. As a sci-fi writer, I am committed to a series I intend to put out in English and Spanish. The idea of focusing on one genre will probably happen at some point, especially if as you mentioned it is also the genre you are most interested in reading. There is no failure in that! Write the stories you enjoy and the readers will enjoy them, too.
Kris

Thanks, Denise! Glad to add a few ideas for energizing our writing into the writer's toolbox.

denise

I also switched genres back in late 2020, from fantasy & science fiction to mystery. I had toyed with the idea of writing in a different genre as an exercise in cross-training my writing muscles for years, but in 2020 I made the switch because I had to. My longtime interest in mystery as a reader suddenly became a passion, and I had no choice. There have been a few diversions a long the way--I spent last summer writing an urban fantasy novella for an anthology which was published that fall, and I also made a few stabs at more fantasy novels. I'm now fully committed to mystery fiction. I took apart the novel that I wrote, put it back together again, realized it didn't work, and have been building a better version.

FWIW here's my own advice on taking risks.

Don't let your self-image of who you are as a writer hold you back. I had identified as a fantasy/SF author for decades. While I'd thought about writing mysteries a number of times before, that self-image kept me from trying.

Commit to the risk. I kept slipping back into working on fantasy and science fiction novels. I wasted time thinking I could work on two novels at the same time, and also in two genres simultaneously. I finally reached the point where, after it was obvious that the heart of what makes a mystery fiction tick, the investigation, was lacking in my book, that I would need to really commit to mystery fiction and level up my craft.

Understand that "failure" is part of taking a risk and fundamental to the learning process.

Have a wonderful week.

I'm trying a new genre. Well, more than one as YA has lots of subcategories.

You've got me thinking about taking day trips for observations and incidents for scenes. That should be productive!