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When I was in junior high, I joined the track team. Track and field offers a lot of events, so the coach had us try a little bit of everything so we could get a feel for what we might like.\n\nI had played softball when I was younger and was a good hitter, so I gave the shot put a few big hurls. My throws weren\u2019t too shabby, but I wasn\u2019t interested in training for it, so I moved on to other options.\n\nThe coach thought I might be good at the 400, which is once around the track. By the time I completed the oval, I was struggling for breath. Sure, with practice I could get stronger and build endurance, but that felt like torture. Any other options?\n\nNo interest in the 800 (twice around the track? I could barely make it once!) or worse, the 1600 (a mile? Are you kidding me?).\n\nI knocked the bar off every time I attempted the high jump\u2014even when they set it at the lowest notch. Later, I tried to clear one hurdle, but it seemed impossible to clear one after another all the way down the track. Pass.\n\nThe long jump required some funky training to standardize strides for the approach. You have to hit a skinny wooden board without even the tip of the shoe going past. Step, step...boom. Launch for takeoff! I hurtled through the air hoping to land in the sand without falling backwards.\n\nI did it. I exploded off that little board and hit the sand falling forward. That was fun. I signed up for that.\n\nNext up: the 100-meter dash. I struggled to place my feet in the starting blocks, but once in motion, I was built for speed. I flew down the track. Same with the 200. The gun would go off, and I\u2019d power around the curve and then down the straightaway to the finish line. I felt electrified. Alive. Yes, I was born to sprint. Well, I wasn\u2019t good enough to compete at the college level, but for my rural high school I did pretty well.\nFigure Out Your Favorite Type of Writing\nTrying to figure out our favorite type of writing\u2014the writing that makes us feel electrified and alive\u2014can feel at first like experimenting with track and field events. You have to jog once around the track or pick up that shot put and give it a spin. With any luck, you\u2019ll find one form or type of writing that just fits, as the 200-meter dash fit me.\n\nWith writing, you have to stick your hands on the keyboard and tap out the first paragraph of a narrative essay. You have to pull out a pen and paper and write the first line of a poem. You can\u2019t know what kind of writing will fit you best or what will end up your favorite form until you learn about it and try it out.\n\nYour first attempts may feel awkward at first, like leaping backwards over a high-jump bar. How do people do this? On your first few attempts at something new, your resulting efforts might not turn out as you hope or imagine\u2014in fact, they probably won\u2019t. It\u2019ll feel like you\u2019ve knocked off that bar and fallen to the mat in an awkward tangle of limbs.\n\nBut as you keep testing out writing forms and styles and genres to find what you enjoy\u2014what feels right for you, what electrifies you\u2014you\u2019ll get the hang of it. You\u2019ll see how others pull it off. You\u2019ll study their technique and see if it will work for you.\n\nDon\u2019t let the fear of a messy, awkward first attempt at any form\u2014from short stories to a profile piece\u2014stop you from trying.\nTry a Little Bit of Everything\nYou may be tempted to discount something thinking it\u2019s too big, too complicated, or too foreign to you. You may feel like ignoring a type of writing. In my interview with Tania Runyan, she says she has no interest in writing a novel.\n\nIn college, I signed up for an introductory creative writing course. They focused on short story half the semester, then switched to poetry. I thought for sure I\u2019d love fiction and hate poetry\u2014or excel at fiction and fail at poetry.\nFrom Fiction to Poetry\nWhat a surprise when I tried my hand at a short story and struggled to make it work. With practice, I could have improved\u2014kind of like the 400.