They say a change is as good as a rest. I recently decided to put that to the test by writing a novel in a genre I have never attempted before: a cosy mystery.

I usually prefer to write YA sci-fi/fantasy when I’m writing anything longer than a picture book, but I do love a good who-dunnit and after a brief wave of inspiration, I thought I’d try my hand.

It’s coming along well. It’s still a million miles from being done, of course, and depending how much success I have with publishing the now complete Project E (title tba), it may never be complete, but I’ve been at it for a few weeks now and I’m still full of enthusiasm. I’ve written a few zero drafts and have a solid outline in place for what I want to happen so I would say we’re well on our way to getting something that might, one day, be fit for human consumption.

It’s been quite a different discipline to writing fantasy. For a start, it’s taken a lot more research into ‘real world’ things such as police procedures and the side effects of various prescription medications. While research into real world matters is certainly beneficial in fantasy world-building, I tend to let my imagination take the lead when it comes to creating my fantasy worlds but you can’t do that quite so much in a mystery novel. Not if you want anyone to take it seriously.

It has also allowed me more scope to explore more adult themes than I normally do for YA which has been great fun. I also find myself drawing much more heavily on my own lived experiences of things like marriage, work, religious belief and so on, which has made it much more cathartic than some projects I’ve worked on.

The thing that’s really surprised me, however, is how much I’ve learned about my usual approach to writing.

I’ve realised, for example, just how reliant I am on certain tropes that work in fantasy, but not in a cosy mystery (e.g.: ‘The Chosen One’ or ‘Ancient Prophesies Are Now Fulfilled’). While there’s nothing wrong with a little trope here and there to help define a novel, we all strive for originality, which is far easier to do when your usual comfort-tropes are taken away.

All in all, I’m finding it to be a worthwhile exercise that I can highly recommend if you’re between projects or feeling a little jaded with the kind of work you normally do. You never know: you might just find an opportunity for success you never knew was there.