Becoming a MULTIGENRE MASTER
Reading this article may confirm something you have always suspected—that the different parts of your personality, the many voices that make you up but which cannot be reconciled into one single voice all the time, can most definitely each be channeled into different ways of telling stories. Not everything you read over the next few pages will be useful to you, but some of it will be vital if you wish to be prolific in different genres.
It’s not uncommon for writers to branch out to other genres, though often an author is most remembered for one genre in particular. Roald Dahl was an adult short story writer and screenwriter before writing his first children’s book sometime in his 40s. Dahl’s early prose was both revered and criticized for being shocking, with characters who were purposefully cruel and others who were wild, eccentric geniuses. Many of the character types that inhabit Dahl’s short fiction can be found fully developed in his children’s novels.
When authors write in different genres, it’s often normal for there to be themes, styles, or even characters that connect the different forms. Before we talk about
