"Stay In Your Lane."

What Barbie and Jim Gaffigan have in common.

“Stay In Your Lane.”

This is a letter about why that might be a twisted, distorted version of some thinking that’s actually really good and helpful.

My dad once sent me this clip from his diary from when I was probably around 7 or 8.

I just went downstairs to stop Rachel and Sarah from fighting. Sarah only has two barbies and she only wants Rachel to have two. I said she should let people do what they want and not be so bossy. I said, "you can only really play with two barbies at once, cause you can only hold two barbies at a time." So she picked up four barbies and played with them. Then I said, "but only 1 Barbie at a time can talk." She said, "Not if they all say the same thing."

Clearly I was delightfully easy to raise—a pleasant mix of never wanting to be told what I could or couldn’t do, while being perfectly willing to tell other people what they should do.

There are a lot of times in a creative life where many forces want to keep you in a single lane, and I get it. It’s just easier that way.

If you write romance or horror, and you stay in those lanes, it’s easier to build your brand as a horror or romance writer.

If you’re a graphic novelist, it’s hard for publishing to adjust quickly enough if you pivot into poetry.

If you’re a novelist, that’s an entirely different audience than if you also sell fine art.

But like being determined to find a way to play with four Barbies at once, I’ve always been determined (perhaps naively optimistic) that there are ways to manage driving in multiple lanes at once.

(I grew up in Utah county, and if you’ve ever driven on I-15 in Utah or Salt Lake Counties, you know how determined that freeway is to never let you change lanes ever too bad).

Anyway.

Jim Gaffigan: A Case Study

One creative I really admire in the multi-lane sense is Jim Gaffigan.

His primary “lane” is stand-up comedy, right? And despite his lazy slob comedic persona, he’s one of the most prolific and hard working figures within that lane. Think of how many specials he’s done on how many different streaming platforms.

But he’s also added many adjacent lanes to that:

• He created a TV show based on his life and stand-up.

• He’s written humor books.

• He takes comedic roles in films.

In other words, he made his stand-up lane as wide as possible, and then slid smoothly into some of these adjacent lanes as well.

But he’s also done some quite un-adjascent things too.

• He’s taken serious and dramatic roles in films.

• He created a line of bourbon.

• He’s been in a serious play on Broadway.

And he’s not the only one to use multiple lanes by any means.

Remember when Lady Gaga released a croony jazz album with Tony Bennett?

Remember when Clay Aiken ran for public office?

Remember all the jobs Barbie has had?

I almost don’t even care which of these types of lane changes are viewed as successes or failures; I find it fascinating to watch people try new things completely out of their known territory.

Writing and Content

This lane thing can be tricky and frustrating from multiple angles.

It’s hard enough just from the writing side.

I remember being a bit nervous when, after writing two contemporary middle grade, I pitched my editor a horror novel. Thankfully she was fully on board.

There are amazing writers like

Author - Claire Swinarski

who writes for both kids and adults, and nonfiction in her Catholic Femenist newsletter.

There’s

Authorstrator

Meaghan McIsaac who does incredible illustrations and writes fun, rompy novels.

These writers give me hope as I can’t help but want to do

ALL THE THINGS.

But sometimes that feels like only half the battle.

There’s also how we talk about it or what we post. If we’re trying to build platforms in this online world, we’re juggling what

Leigh Stein

differentiates as writing vs content.

And the content side can also include…so many things. So many its overwhelming. And people do amazing, artist, creative things:

• Like Sarah Scribbles comics

• or Jason Pargin’s video essays

• or Elle Cordova’s sketch comedy

• or Sarah Maddack’s silly songs and raps

What if…what if we want to do those things too?

Do we have to only talk about our writing and books?

Don’t Listen to Screwtape

I think creatives fall naturally somewhere on the specialist to generalist spectrum, and I’ve always really admired the specialists. Like, you know what a Brandon Sanderson book is, right? He’s got his lane DOWN. He lives there and loves it.

Loving a single lane looks so, so refreshing for those of us standing here juggling thirteen plates and trying to figure out where to add four more.

We’re all familiar with that voice that tells us we’re doing it wrong and nobody will like it if we change things up and to “stay in our lane.” (It tells us lots of other things too, like how we don’t look right or we’re not worth anyone’s time and on and on, but we’ll focus on the “stay in your lane” line for now.)

I call that voice Screwtape. I call it that loudly. Because calling it that tells that voice that I know where it came from, and that it can go right back there thank you very much. That it’s not my voice.

So if you hear a voice saying “stay in your lane” OR “you’re doing the same thing over and over again because you can’t do anything else, can you,” then I say

don’t listen.

As simple as that. Not always easy, but I do believe it. The irl world is more complex than that, I know, and who knows what will fly or flop, but if you’re feeling called to do something, either many varied somethings, or many specific somethings, than go go go, right?

Aren’t we all so glad that Leonardo Da Vinci did like, all of the sciences and all of the arts? Aren’t we all so glad that Terry Pratchett wrote so many humorous, delightful books all in Discworld?

But do listen to…

There’s a flip side to this.

Speaking as a Do All The Things Overwhelmed Generalist.

Because the Screwtape voice is really, really loud. In some ways that’s a good thing, because it makes it easy to pinpoint and compartmentalize. (Ideally.)

But it’s also so loud it covers up a much quieter, more important voice.

I once wrote an entire angsty YA book about a girl named Gertrude because I had done middle grade and felt like I needed to do all the things and that meant YA too.

I did not enjoy writing that book, and it ended up going nowhere.

I was so determined and so stubbornly ignoring the Screwtape voice telling me “stay in your lane” that I didn’t hear the much quieter, actually truly me voice whispering, “hey, psst, Sarah, maybe angsty YA isn’t what you’re meant for, and that’s okay.”

Those voices come from completely different places, but it can be really hard to tell the difference sometimes. Especially for don’t tell me I can’t play with four barbies at a time type people.

It’s hard to let things like that go. To accept that maybe I actually can’t do all the things, and that shockingly…I don’t really even want to. Just some of them.

And that helps me figure out the lanes I really do want to be in.

It makes for a somewhat more pleasant and more focused driving experience hehe.

Are you a generalist or a specialist? What multi-lanes are you driving in?

Onward!

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7 Side Dishes Worth Sharing

1. If one of the All The Things that you want to do involves lettering, I found this lettering tutorial incredibly easy to follow and very helpful.

2. Rosie Pova has a very practical and helpful Picture Book Structure Breakdown on her website that I think is a fantastic jumping off point. Sometimes you just need a set structure to get you started.

3. Kyle T Webster
   has six fantastic tips in his Creative Professional Survival Guide. Tip #4 is particularly applicable to what we’re talking about today.

4. Speaking of changing lanes, check it this fun post by

   James Burks
   about going from animation to stop-motion.

5. This video of

   John Cleese
   on Creativity has over a million views on YouTube and for good reason. It’s one of the best breakdowns of nurturing the creative process that I’ve ever seen.

6. Alex Baia
   wrote this spot on and hilarious essay for The New Yorker about Millenials and where they are now. Because we could all use a laugh. I also absolutely love this McSweeney’s essay from
   Julie Vick
   : I’m a Typo, and in This Age of AI, I’m the Real Hero

7. If you’re wondering about quitting social media entirely,

   Tara McMullin
   has some amazing numbers and thoughts and info on what the opportunity cost actually is: To quit or not to quit social media—that is the question.

What are your favorite sides lately?

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Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

• For some really fascinating thoughts about students using AI to cheat, check out this article by Richard Culatta (who worked in the Department of Education under Obama and has visited us here before): The Real Way to Stop Cheating in an AI World

• Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.

• Free activity sheets for teachers and librarians to keep at your desk or use in or between lessons! More added all the time, so check back regularly.

• I would love to do a free virtual author visit with your class! Reach out to me via my website and let’s schedule something.

You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for reading!

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Thanks for coming along everyone! 1) Subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

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