Learn New Things

One of the cool things about being a writer is that you're always learning really neat stuff. That expansion of your knowledge base is part of being a writer; it seems that you are always researching something for something. Those little bits of trivia help to add a little bit depth to the character and story.  Of course, it gets weird when you update that info, but that's the price of being a writer. But delving into new spheres is something all writers should be doing; sometimes looking into a subject matter you would never try will give you some great story ideas, but at the very least you'll have some great background information for a group or a character.

Every artist should be looking into new things. Painters should look up new techniques or try to make their own paint. An inker should try replicating some 1800s drawings or something medieval just to see what happens. If you're normally doing straight machinery trying something Kirbyesque. 

And this applies  to any kind of artist; you need to be looking for something new to try just to mess around with. I mean, you should always be trying to figure out exactly what it's going to take to get you to the next level. You can't do that if you're not doing anything to expand your knowledge; sometimes you need to play in a different sandbox than the one that you're used to. You can't really hit that next level if you're always checking boxes the same way; you need something to propel you to the next level.

When you start looking at a lot of artists, especially the really influential ones, you notice they go through periods when they tried new stuff just to see what happened. Picasso is the obvious king here where he had his blue period, his cubist period, his realistic period, and so on and so forth. You've got writers who tried plays, poems, even prose, just to see what they could do. If you want to advance in your craft, then you need to learn new things if you want to level up. 

So learn new things and have some fun with it. Even if you don't do so well, at least you tried, and that's the only way to get better.