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Last time we talked about enjoying our vein of gold as we decide what to write next.\n\nTo discover our strength as a writer\u2014writing that represents our brightest, most brilliant contributions\u2014I proposed we may have to experiment and try new genres, new subject matter, or even expressing ourselves in a new and different voice that may turn out to be our truest voice.\n\nWhat intrigues you? What have you been tempted to write? How might you write it?\n\nExperiment. Give it a try.\nExperimentation Expands Us\nThrough these experiments, we might uncover something we\u2019re better at than anything we\u2019ve tried before. Or we may confirm that our vein of gold is what we\u2019ve invested in the most already.\n\nEither way, we learn something new. And even if our experimental efforts aren\u2019t going to win a National Book Award, we will have expanded our repertoire and quite possibly our very selves.\n\nExperimentation is how to tap into new spaces inside\u2026discover new possibilities\u2026gain new insights.\nExperimentation Is Risky\nIf you\u2019re going to step out of your comfort zone to try something new, however, you\u2019ll be taking a risk. You probably already thought of that\u2014it may be what\u2019s holding you back. Risk-aversive writers may resist, and I can\u2019t promise your experiments will end all rainbows and unicorns.\n\nYour experiment could have any number of outcomes:\n\n \tIt may stretch you.\n \tIt may captivate you.\n \tYou might love it.\n \tYou might hate it.\n \tReaders might love it.\n \tReaders might hate it.\n \tYou might feel like you\u2019ve landed flat on your face and feel embarrassed, wondering why you wasted your time.\n \tYou might feel like you\u2019ve produced your best work ever\u2014and you\u2019ll wonder why you\u2019ve invested so much time and energy on whatever you\u2019ve been doing all these years.\n\nThen again, your experiment might result in something far less dramatic. You might simply learn a clever new technique or dig up a pleasant memory. You might make yourself and your reader chuckle or shed a tear before shifting back to the tried and true work you\u2019re known for.\n\nWhether your experiment lands you at one extreme or the other\u2014or somewhere in-between\u2014don\u2019t be afraid to try. If you\u2019re tempted, give it a go. In the film The Greatest Showman, P.T. Barnum\u2019s protege Phillip Carlyle says, "You\u2019re risking everything you\u2019ve built.\u201d Without missing a beat, Barnum replies, "Well how do you think I built it?\u201d\nCreativity Requires Risk\nInteresting, creative work usually requires risk. And risk\u2026is risky.\n\nReaders not expecting you to tackle a new topic or genre or tone may be thrown off and respond with shock, surprise, delight, or derision. You won\u2019t know until you try.\n\nBut risk, even in the form of tiny, everyday creative risks, is how you grow as a writer and, over time, it\u2019s how you build a writing career.\n\nMonet often painted the same subject in a series\u2014haystacks, bridges, lily pads, a cathedral. He experimented with subtle changes in light and color, and the impact of weather and time of day on the scene. Given that, one might argue he stayed in his vein of gold.\n\n\n\nBut Monet, the father of Impressionism, didn\u2019t start out with those famous quick brush strokes he\u2019s known for today. He started out with charcoal, then trained with oils, experimenting with a new medium and eventually a new style. He submitted his early work to the Salon, you know, the \u201cestablishment," and those first pieces played more or less by the rules of the day.\n\nEventually, though, he experimented. He expanded his repertoire. He took his work outdoors, en plein air, and shifted to give the impression of a scene more than rendering it realistically.\n\nThe \u201cestablishment" didn\u2019t react favorably. Monet, you may recall, formed a group of artists that held their own exhibition in another part of Paris. Today, their style seems normal to us, quite appealing, but it shook the art world of 19th Century Paris.\n\nAren\u2019t we glad Monet took those creative risks?