Why Writers Need to Read Outside Their Genre (Even When It Feels Like Betrayal)

Hot take: You can learn tons from a country song

Let’s be honest: Writers are creatures of habit. If you write fantasy, your bookshelf probably looks like a dragon’s hoard of epic quests and magical prophecies. If you write horror, your Kindle history is 80% haunted houses, creeping dread, and whatever Stephen King released last week.

And that’s fine! Reading inside your genre is important. You need to know what’s been done, what’s overdone, and how to do it better.

But if that’s all you read? If you refuse to touch anything outside your precious comfort zone?

Congratulations, you’re creatively starving yourself.

Genre Loyalty is Overrated

Look, I get it. Branching out feels wrong. Like literary infidelity. You’ve built your identity on being a sci-fi person or living in gothic horror or writing romance exclusively about brooding dukes and strong-willed governesses.

But here’s the thing: Your brain is a garbage—ummm—garden lot.

The more variety you throw in there: different voices, styles, genres, and yes, even country music ballads—the richer the soil becomes. And out of that soil? New, original ideas writhe and twist until they punch out of the ground like a malevolent—sorry, lost my thought there. New ideas will grow to be beautiful blooms of literary delight.

What Crime Writers Can Learn from Romance (And Vice Versa)

• Crime novels know how to keep tension tight, which romance writers could use to make their slow burns really sizzle.

• Romance authors understand deep character work and emotional stakes, which crime writers could steal to make their detectives feel like actual humans instead of exposition machines in trench coats. (This is probably the area I often struggle with…)

• Horror knows how to build suspense, which every genre could benefit from (because guess what? Readers like not knowing what’s going to happen next).

• Literary fiction masters gorgeous prose and introspection, which sci-fi and fantasy can borrow to make their worlds feel lived in instead of just explained.

You want to write better? Steal...learn from everywhere.

Now the hot take: You Need to Read (and Listen to) Country Music Ballads

You heard me. Country music.

The genre that gets mocked for being all trucks, heartbreak, and whiskey? Yeah, well, country ballads do something a lot of writers struggle with: they tell a full, emotional, gut-wrenching story in under five minutes.

Submitted for your approval (or not, but it’s pretty solid evidence).

1. “Whiskey Lullaby” – Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss (2004)

This song isn’t just sad—it’s a masterclass in tragic storytelling. A man returns home from war to find his love has moved on. He drowns himself in whiskey, literally. The woman, devastated by guilt, follows suit. The chorus repeats like an epitaph, reinforcing the weight of their grief. In just a few verses, the song captures loss, regret, and the kind of heartbreak that doesn’t fade—it buries you.

2. “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” – Vicki Lawrence (SPOLIERS) (1972)

This one’s got plot twists that could put some mystery novels to shame. A man comes home to find his wife has been unfaithful, grabs his gun, but then—boom—the real crime happens, and he’s the one executed for it. Meanwhile, the real killer? His own sister, the song’s narrator, who coolly confesses at the end. Suspense, injustice, a last-minute reveal? That’s crime fiction at its finest. Plus, every time I see a Georgia State Patrol car, this song gets stuck in my head for the day.

3. “Long Black Veil” – Lefty Frizzell (1959)

This is gothic fiction in song form. A man is wrongfully executed for murder, but he refuses to give an alibi because it would reveal his affair with his best friend’s wife. After his death, the woman mourns him by visiting his grave at night, hidden beneath a long black veil. Betrayal, sacrifice, guilt—Faulkner would be proud.

4. “Jolene” – Dolly Parton (1973)

Minimalist storytelling at its best. No elaborate backstory, no extra details; just raw emotion. A desperate woman pleads with a beautiful rival not to steal her man. The power of this song isn’t in what it tells you, but in what it doesn’t. There’s no guarantee she succeeds. Maybe she’s already lost. The tension is in the simplicity.

Why Writers Should Pay Attention

Country ballads don’t waste time. They get to the core of human emotion fast. They tell stories about grief, love, regret, and vengeance with more impact than some novels do in 300 pages.

You want to sharpen your storytelling skills? Listen to some cowboy songs. You might learn something.

You’re Not Betraying Your Genre—You’re Making It Stronger

Let’s be clear: I’m not saying abandon your favorite genre. You don’t have to stop reading fantasy or horror or sci-fi. But if you only read your niche, you’re breathing the same recycled air as every other writer in your lane.

The best fantasy writers read history. The best sci-fi authors study philosophy. The best romance writers steal tension from thrillers.

Your genre will thank you for stepping outside the box.

In Conclusion: Read Weird, Write Better

Go read a genre you think you hate. Listen to a country song about heartbreak. Steal techniques from places you never expected.

Because great writers don’t just read. They absorb. They adapt. They steal like artists.

And if you’re still clinging to the idea that you can only learn from your genre?

Well, I hate to break it to you, partner—but you’re missing out.

Tony Sarrecchia