Reading One Genre Recharged Another

Over the past week or so I have written a number of poems. My poetic battery has been recharged. Ever since reading two books of horror and ghost stories, my poetic bent has been going ahead like a locomotive. 

Taking a break from what is our norm can turn out to be a blessing. It's good to pause when we run into roadblock  The best thing is to try and figure out which direction to go next. To forge ahead in the wrong direction and without a clear purpose could mean wasted time and energy.

I didn't plan on reading horror stories. The urge just came upon me so I pursued it. I read an old book called The Haunted Looking Glass by Edward Gorey and Bram Stoker's Best Ghost and Horror Stories. I was exposed to different styles of storytelling by different authors. I am a fan of castles and some of the stories fed my curiosity about them. I have written a few outlines for future stories with castles as the backdrop.

There's no harm in taking a break from whatever genre you write. I did this over 1 1/2 years ago when I began writing poems in earnest. My short stories, commentaries and essays seemed dry and uninteresting. Poetry revived by zest for writing. Think about trying something  different for a change. Dull and uninteresting stories aren't worth the time and effort. We don't want to bore our readers with stories that we find boring.