The Older Writer
By Juliet Marillier | February 4, 2016 |
We’ve lost a number of prominent figures in the entertainment industry this year to cancer and other causes, and it’s still only the beginning of February. For me, the cluster of deaths was a reminder of my own mortality. I didn’t feel the fear that I might die tomorrow, though I did decide to formalise my plan for who takes care of my dogs should I predecease them. Instead this question came to mind: as a 67 year old writer, what would I still like to achieve?
For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been writing professionally for around 17 years and writing full time for 13 of those years. I have nineteen novels and a body of short stories in print. I’ve had good critical recognition within the fantasy genre and have a shelf full of writing awards. So I have built a solid career as a novelist, though without any spectacular peaks.
Thinking back to my first few years as a published writer, the roller-coaster feeling of that time, the steep learning curve, the need to make both business and artistic decisions without fully understanding what they meant, I think I had career hopes and ambitions that were rather different from my current ones. To make it onto the New York Times bestseller list or UK equivalent. To be taken seriously by reviewers in mainstream media. To sell film rights to one of my novels and see a great movie made. To win a major international writing award. To earn enough so I didn’t have to worry about paying the bills. It would still be nice to achieve all of those (I’ve managed two of them) but I see those ambitions now as ‘Great if it happened, but unlikely’ rather than ‘Let’s charge forward and make it happen.’
So what’s changed?
Over the years since I signed my first book contract I’ve learned a lot more about the way it all works. Since I started out, the rise of social media and digital communications in general have transformed the way writers interact with their readers and with their professional networks. These days one can hardly not know what’s going on in the publishing world, whose books are doing brilliantly, who has dropped off the radar, which new author is the flavour of the month. I’ve come to realise that I’m unlikely ever to be that NYT-best-selling, Nebula- award-winning novelist. And I’ve come to accept that it doesn’t matter. I have loyal readers all around the world who love what I’m doing. I have a great agent and publishers who (for now at least) still believe in what I have to offer. I get more requests to write short fiction and other pieces than I have time to fulfill. I never forget how fortunate I am to have a professional career as a full time writer of fiction.
But that question is still there: at the age of 67, what are my career aspirations? Am I getting to an age where I should consider giving it up and focusing more on my demanding activities in animal rescue? What more is there to achieve as a writer?
For me, plenty. I don’t mean winning awards or featuring on ‘best of’ lists, satisfying as those things are. I don’t mean churning out a product designed to go on selling. I mean drawing from the bottomless well of story material. Finding characters desperate to tell their stories and giving them a voice. Sharing wisdom, if I can. Making readers think. Making them feel. Stretching myself as a writer. Trying something new.
These days I challenge myself a little further with each novel I write. Playing with voice and structure in ways I haven’t tried before. Tackling something I know I’m not great at – a mystery – and making it work. Building a series around characters markedly different from those I have created previously. Writing should never get too comfortable. It should be challenging. It should be difficult, because overcoming difficulties makes you stronger at what you do. It should never cease to be a journey of learning.
As for when it may be time to slow down or to stop, that is not determined by how old we are in years. It’s about whether we still have a story to tell; whether we still love the frustrating, exhausting, rewarding, challenging craft of writing.
Older writers: What do you find rewarding as a writer? What is particularly challenging for you? What do you hope to achieve?
Juliet Marillier has written twenty-four novels for adults and young adults and two collections of short fiction. Her works of historical fantasy have been published around the world and have won numerous awards. Juliet’s most recent series was Warrior Bards, of which the third and final book, A Song of Flight, was published in 2021. Her collection of reimagined fairy tales, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, had its trade release in 2022. Mother Thorn is illustrated by Kathleen Jennings and published by Serenity Press.
Juliet is currently working on a two-book fantasy series. The first book in this duology, The Amber Owl, will be published by New Dawn in February 2025.
When not writing, Juliet looks after a small crew of rescue dogs.
This has little to do with your post, but I wanted to tell you that I started reading your novels after a friend shared some of your WU pieces on craft. You’ve become one of my go-to authors, and I’m very glad that you still have stories to tell.
Also, thank you for the reminder that one doesn’t have to accomplish every important thing in life by the age of forty, or fifty, or sixty. It’s easy to feel very frantic and rushed about such things, but that’s probably silly.
I look forward to reading more of your stories.
Thank you, Meagan – I’m delighted that you’re enjoying my books.
I remind myself, often, that the important thing is to go on learning, whether it’s through writing or something else. Learning about the world, learning how to write better, learning how to help others …
I love how you want to keep writing because you still have stories to tell. That should definitely be the measure of why we keep on, keeping on. I’m a few years younger than you (but not by many!) and have published two nonfiction books but am working on my dream–publishing YA historical fiction. There are days I feel like I’m too old to make it happen, others that I realize I understand dynamics of human interaction better now in my 60’s than I did in my 40’s. Thanks for your encouragement!
I’m sure you can make that dream reality, Carol! Older writers may have lower energy levels than younger ones but they know how to harness it wisely. And the maturity that comes with life experience is really valuable in shaping a story.
Hi Juliet. Great to hear a life story from someone of my generation, although you’re only a strippling, really. :) I’m 70. I started writing seriously in 1996 and have now (self-)published 5 novels and a collection of short stories. Your thoughts about the future rang a chord with me, as I have been thinking along similar lines lately. I don’t have any dogs, so my main concern is finding someone to look after my IP copyrights after I’m gone.
That’s an excellent body of work, JJ! Yes, that’s a good point about planning re the IP copyrights. That’s something you can make provision for in your will – appoint someone your literary executor.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But what if you can’t find anyone who knows anything about publishing who might be interested in taking on management of my work?
Maybe you should talk to a solicitor about the issue. It might depend on whether there will be income from the books after your death and who it would go to, or whether it’s mostly to protect your work from copyright infringement and keep it available. Maybe there’s someone within the Writer Unboxed community who knows the answer to this. Could you ask the question on the WU Facebook page?
Hi Juliet. I’ve asked the question on several Facebook groups, notably the Alliance of Independent Authors. I’ve also spoken to several solicitors, but no one over here (in Ireland) has the remotest clue about this. My books produce a steady income stream, not JK Rowling levels, off course, but enough to live on. I need to find a solicitor (or a literary agent) who does this sort of work for other authors. My last hope is to find an agent in London to take it on.
Bravo Juliet! Here is a voice that deserves to be heard. As a man of a certain age, my chief goal in writing is to achieve that satisfaction that you were speaking to about your earlier career (I’ve only been at it around half as long as you, plus I’m a day-job dilettante). I feel quite confident that my joy won’t fade before my end (how much longer could it be!), and I don’t have the professional ambitions that many do. The soul-return of a creative endeavor is plenty for me right now. Fame and fortune, I wouldn’t say no. But that’s not what sustains us, I think. We are humans, which is to say we love to tell stories- and age helps there.
Oh, beautifully said! A soul-return is exactly what it was for me.
My challenge is reinventing my brand/image as I look at writing in other genres and even nonfiction. (I’m multi-published in romantic suspense.) Acknowledging that my interests have changed over the years has been freeing and exciting, even though I feel like a total newbie in some aspects. Onward and upward, though!
Branching out into a new genre is quite an adventure. Creating a new name/brand will be challenging but fun, I imagine. I admire your versatility! I am always rather in awe of writers who juggle different balls / wear different hats at the same time.
Thanks, Juliet! Also, thank you for such a terrific post. I’m checking back regularly to read all the great comments. Feeling a nice sense of camaraderie. :)
A lovely post, Juliet. I’m also a mature :) writer, having come to self-publishing after many other careers. I’m impressed that you’ve made a living as a writer, not easy to excel in the arts, when there are so many hurdles. It takes talent, luck, and of course hard work.
As you say, you have many stories to tell. I feel the same way. I feel blessed that I have many experiences to draw upon. That is the benefit of being an older writer. As long as the passion is there to write, I will continue to dig deep as well and tell the stories that are begging to be told.
Hi Diana, and congratulations on all you’ve achieved. Yes, I’ve been remarkably lucky. I doubt that I would have had the energy to attempt self-publishing, even if that option had been viable back in the 1990s. I admire those who do it well and make it work. :)
Sometimes I regret having done this thing backward. I’ve been at this ten years now, and I’m sitting solidly in the center of my fifties. What I mean by backward is that I started out by simply writing. No study of craft, not even a blog post. Just researched and wrote. And wrote and wrote.
So now I have this vast body of work, all in the same world, with scores of characters, their lives so interconnected. And here I am, trying to make the first one palatable for the market. Sometimes the characters out ahead of me, those who haven’t even been born yet in the section where I’m working, call out to me. They want to be heard. And although I haven’t written them yet, I *know* their children (the grandchildren of the characters I’m working with today). Their stories aren’t fully formed, but I recognize who they *must* be. And life’s so damn short. I’ve got two dear friends who are sick to remind me of it, in the most heartbreaking way.
But regrets are a waste of energy. Energy better used on moving forward. This is the road I chose. And looking back on it, I know I’m who I am – I’m the writer I’ve become – because of those years, those characters, those stories. So I still answer when they call, “I’m coming. As long as I’m alive, so are you.”
Through most of these years writing, you’ve been an inspiration to me, Juliet. Your interview (with Jacqueline Carey) was the thing that originally lured me to WU, which is such a huge part of my journey. I’ll never forget when I was such a newb, and you replied to one of my comments on an essay of yours here. I was so excited, I told my wife all about it when we walked the dog that evening (and now she reads you, too). It’s one of those little moments that nudged me along to my recognition and acknowledgment of myself as a writer. It’s funny, isn’t it? The lives you stir and help to shape in passing, just by being you. So thank you for being you!
Wow, thank you, Vaughn. I’m really happy to have lured you to WU, where you have become a major asset!
As for your magnum opus, that does sound monumental. Have you read anything by Angela Slatter? (Australian writer of dark fantasy, was joint winner of a World Fantasy Award this year.) She has written two books of linked short stories, which all go together to let us into a world and introduce a multi-generational set of characters. The stories all work as stand-alones and they don’t go in chronological order, so it’s like a puzzle, but the whole is bigger than the parts. Angela’s stories are well worth reading even if you don’t think that might be one way to tackle your own task. The two books are called Sourdough and The Bitterwood Bible.
Thanks for the recommendation! Just downloaded Sourdough. (Fingers crossed on getting through my own generations. I really do aspire.)
Angela Slatter? She wrote “The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter”. I love that story! Recommenced reading.
Thanks for the post! I am 60 and just changing careers to serve by writing! I am learning so much. I hope to go another 12 or more years and make the biggest difference of my life. I still feel like 27 inside! So much to do and say! Blessings.
I really believe we are as old or young as we feel inside. All the best with the writing!
I think as I get older my definition of success has changed. Now it’s more personal. I don’t share my goals and aspirations, I keep them close. You don’t find success, it finds you. Be ready to recognize it when it appears at every age.
Well said.
I’m a 62 – approaching – 63-year-old writer, and ex-journalist. I had dreams as a teenager of awards… and multiple books. But now, although I keep writing ideas out as drafts of stories/novels, part of me has to be content with one published novel. My wife says that is a dream achieved, and she is right – even if the sales were poor. Now I just treat everything as a bonus – maybe there is another published book out there.
Roland, I think that’s wise. A published book is a success worth celebrating. And with all those ideas and drafts on hand, it seems highly likely you’ll be motivated to develop some of them further. Either way I hope you can keep taking pleasure in the writing itself.
I’m in my early sixties, with many published short stories and two novels in various stages of revision. I’m building a brand with the stories (same characters and setting as the novels). I’m well aware that agents will not take on a new author over sixty, and I’m fine with that. Their loss. When I see how much time and money goes into self-promotion by authors with publishing houses, I’ll probably be better off going the Amazon route, after two professional edits (developmental and line-edit).
Margaret, it sounds as if you have great organisational skills, sound business sense and a very practical approach to your work. You obviously know what you are doing. In other words, you are the kind of writer who’s likely to make a success of self-publishing.
I think that is probably true about agents not wanting to take on older writers. They might bend the rules if a manuscript is absolutely brilliant.
Thanks for the post, Juliet. I was beginning to wonder if sitting here writing a paranormal love scene was the best thing an elderly Southern steel azalea could do with her time (at least, what time the two dachshunds allow her). You made me feel a lot better, although the way the current revisions are going, I may have to assign power-of-final-edit to someone else.
I think it’s true that older writers have a deeper well of experience to draw from. Most of us, unfortunately, have seen tragedy from the front and back ends by now, as well as both sides of joy, and we have a better objective view of life’s bright and dark comedies. My aim in writing is to remind myself and my readers that, in the dark, we all are much stronger than we realize, and in the light we are capable of so much more than we know.
End of sermon. It’s time for breakfast, y’all.
Wonderful comment, Newt. I couldn’t agree more. Harry says hi to the dachshunds.
‘Power-of-final-edit’ – that made me think! I have actually chosen a writer who would finish any half-written novel I might leave behind and she has agreed to do it.
This post is so inspiring to me. I’m not yet an “old” writer, but sometimes I feel old looking at debut authors in their early twenties (some still in college!). But I have long admired your work (Wildwood Dancing is one of my very favorite YA fantasies), and I’m glad you continue to write and tell stories even if they’re not on the NYT list because those stories are meaningful to readers.
(Btw–I’ve been very lucky to work with Michelle Frey on my debut novel, and one of the things that made me excited to work with her was knowing she’d worked on your lovely Wildwood series.)
Michelle Frey is a lovely editor and very professional – I really enjoyed working with her.
I’m having the wonderful experience in a couple of weeks of launching a novel for a young writer (now in her early 20s) whom I mentored when she was in high school. Her book is being mainstream published after coming second in a national writing competition. In its way that is just as thrilling as seeing one of my own novels launched.
That sounds amazing! Good luck to her.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! As a mature writer, who had early moderate success (a 2-book contract with Penguin) – and then nothing (after a soul-killing 9 months of revisions & eventual rejection on my option book) – I have recently come to a similar conclusion. I have characters who want their stories told. I want to give them that – and give myself the satisfaction of knowing that I’ve honored them by writing their tales. Yes, I still have dreams, and aspirations of being published again, but now I’m writing first for my characters and myself – I’ll let the Universe take care of the rest!
Thank you for this! After some modest publishing success & then heartbreak over my option book, I have recently come to a similar conclusion. I have characters who want their stories written. What happens to those stories, we shall see.
I’m sorry about the heartbreak. It really is a roller coaster profession. On the other hand, after time for reflection you can process the heartbreak into a story …
I think you just peeked into the pages of my journal. As people my age start making retirement plans, I have no such intentions. And sometimes I ask myself if it is silly to have such grand goals at this age. But it comes down to exactly what you wrote–the joy of putting stories on the page. As long as I still love it, I’m going to do it. Thank you for this–and now I am off to investigate your books!
Thanks for these thoughts–and the comments. I started this writer’s life in nonfiction, and working for myself at it, when I was very young, mid-20s. Now I’m looking at a big number birthday, and am writing mostly fiction. As I look at the next 10-15 years, I have more novels in progress, in rough draft form, or ideas partially filled out to last way beyond those years. I can’t imagine not wanting to keep going–and the passion for writing has been with me for so long that I can’t see it withering away. I know that anything can happen to anyone at any time, and I’ve had a share of challenges, but I’ll keep on writing until… (It sure is a good way to keep my brain sharp as the years pass!) Thanks for all the thoughtful responses.
Hi Juliet. I’m a member of your generation and only started writing six years ago. Because of my age, I’ve put terrible pressures on myself to be published–worried I’m running out of time. But recently, I’ve learned to relax and concentrate on craft so that I’ll someday deserve to be published. Besides, channeling my twelve-year-old self to write middle grade novels is keeping me young. ;) Thanks for your post.
Very wise! I love the idea of channeling your much younger self. Good luck with it all.
As a fellow writer of historical fantasy, you’ve supplied career inspiration for me for several years now. I also started publishing my work in my forties and even though I sometimes wish I’d started sooner, I also feel the maturity I’ve attained so far makes my writing better. Now that I’ve started, I have no interest in stopping, or even so much as thinking about retirement. The stories are just pouring out of me now, so ideally, I’ll keep working until I drop dead at my laptop. With any luck, that gives me another 30-40 years to write, a prospect that fills me with joy.
Magnificent, Christina! Your response is full of heart, and I hope you continue writing with such passion for many years to come. Interesting image about dropping dead at the laptop – I’d been thinking about illustrations for this post and wondered if there was a ‘skeleton at the typewriter’ to be found.
“I mean drawing from the bottomless well of story material. Finding characters desperate to tell their stories and giving them a voice. Sharing wisdom, if I can.”
Beautiful aspirations, it seems to me. They depend upon the writer turning within to nurture her own vision (can be hard to do nowadays). And I also think it is our job to mentor the next generation of novelists as part of “sharing wisdom.” All this death of the novel talk can be discouraging.
I am about to turn 54, have produced five novels (4 published), and hope to create more while I have time.
Thank you for the inspiring post!
It’s very late here in Australia so I am heading off to bed – I have an early trip to the vet tomorrow. I will respond to any further posts in the morning. Thank you all so much for these wonderful comments. I continue to be inspired by what a great community of writers we have at Writer Unboxed.
Thank you for this post! Although I’m not quite 50, I’ve begun to face my own mortality. It happens when you begin to see friends and loved ones near your own age pass away.
I’ll never forget the moment when I thought of my own death and the idea of me passing without finishing my first book. I panicked and got a knot in my throat like the story needed a physical release. (I know that sounds a bit too dramatic, but that’s honestly how I felt at the time.)
How do I see my writing future? Sure I’d love to accomplish the things you mentioned, and I’ll strive for the book and movie deals. But I know that’s not likely. If I can write the stories I love and it pays modestly while my readership grows, I will consider myself happy and lucky.
Juliet.
I found your posting so very inspirational and encouraging. Now at 65, I began writing fiction about three years ago when I retired from a 35-year career in business. I certainly relate to the “steep learning curve,” I’ve always been a good (expository) writer, and a voracious reader–my love of fine fiction began in the 5th grade–but I learned quickly that writing compelling fiction involves much more that good grammar and properly structured sentences and paragraphs. That said, I’ve so many stories dying to be told, characters coiled and ready to spring to life, that I cannot not write. Besides, I’ve been blessed with some wonderful teachers and rich learning experiences, such as a fabulous critique group.
I certainly have no delusions about landing on the NYT bestseller list, and realize I may never publish, not that that wouldn’t thrill me. But the thing that draws me to the keyboard every morning is the blaze in my belly to write something artistically true and worthy. I don’t plan on dying soon, but when I do, if just one intelligent, good-willed person tells me they were moved by my work, I’ll leave the planet a satisfied man. Provided, of course, that I know my beloved Doxology (my sweet little Kelpie) is loved and well cared for when I’m gone.
Thanks for your wonderful words.
Very best,
D. Wayne Perry
Longmont, Colorado (USA)
I love the passion behind those words. Wisdom, too. That tells me you’re going to write something wonderful. My dogs send greetings to Doxology (what a great name!)
Thank you so much, Juliet, for this timely post. Though I’m certainly not an established author, my writing has become my passion since I retired. As I approach my 68th birthday, the thoughts you express here have been bouncing about my head for the past year. It probably has not helped that I have volunteered with a hospice over the past year; I feel too close to the inevitable. But, no matter what, I want to keep writing. I piddled with poetry and short stories over the many years I built a career and corralled my children, but writing is now the raison d’être that now fills my time. In the next few weeks I will self-publish my first novel. I probably should be submitting my poetry somewhere. I’m not going to quit, as long as I can type or lift a pen! At my age, I find “success” is not what calls me. The muse calls me. I decided not to enter a Master Degree program this past year because of “my age.” Foolish. I’m not gone until I’m gone. And … maybe not even then. I need to remember that Japanese term, ikigai; getting up each day with a reason for being is what shall keep me going. Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I do not feel so alone.
–Sandy
I am really loving the responses to my post, so many wonderful people coming out of the woodwork, so to speak! Your volunteer job must take up a lot of energy, both physical and emotional, making it quite hard to write, I imagine. But it sounds as if you are doing really well, and congratulations on the impending publication of the novel.
ikigai is something we should all practise.
I “hid” my age (easily done online) for a while, until last year when a 20something planning a book convention had an online rant about this ancient hotel who couldn’t get our arrangements straightened out. “I mean, this guy’s ancient–like, sixty–and knows nothing about working with authors.”
I let her have it, and was pleased to have been joined by a lot of other “ancient” writers. I can’t yet write full time and still have the evil day job, but all that changes in about 12 months–because I’m old enough to retire and proud of it.
What an unpleasant experience – there’s been much discussion recently about discrimination at science fiction and fantasy conventions on the basis of gender or disability, and the need to have guidelines to stop it, but this is the first time I’ve heard of such blatant ageism. I hope the young organiser took the message in. My best wishes for a creative and fulfilling ‘retirement’.
Thank you for your thoughtful and honest post, Juliet. I cannot remember when I have appreciated a post more … of course, as a fellow veteran human, I cannot remember what I don’t remember. Just kidding.
I admire and applaud your accomplishments, as well as the decision to keep going. I’m sure your loyal readers feel the same.
By my limited calculation skills, your writing career began when you were a mere pup of 50. What words of wisdom/encouragement would you give to us who are of your current age and just now embarking on the publishing quest?
I’ve read some posts by literary agents who claim age doesn’t matter; quality and saleability do. But what about acquisition editors? I wonder how many are willing to invest in a debut author who chronologically is near life’s curtain call.
Thanks again.
Bob Iozzia
Thanks, Bob. I like that term, ‘veteran human’.
I am not expert on what publishers and agents are currently doing, but I suspect there may be a reluctance to take a risk on older authors. However, I believe that if the manuscript is good enough it will find a home somewhere.
If that ends up being as a self-published book, that is perfectly respectable these days. You just need to make sure you do it properly. There’s plenty of good advice available on the WU site and the Facebook page, for starters.
My words of wisdom are simple and they are the same I’d give to a younger writer – it’s all about writing the best book you possibly can. Everything else flows from that.
Thanks very much, Juliet.
Juliet–
Timing is everything. Without taking anything from you in terms of talent and ambition, your timing could hardly have been better. You started writing close to twenty years ago, and have been commercially published for the last thirteen. That means you managed to slip inside the tent just before technology/social media began zipping it closed, and opened its own new circus.
If that metaphor makes any sense to you, it means you may have some appreciation for what it’s like to be an older writer on the outside, looking in. S/he is in practical terms too old to have much chance in the now-shrinking world of commercial publishing. S/he is also ill-equipped to jump through the many hoops required of self-publishers.
As for what still keeps me going as a writer, the answer is simple. For longer than I will tell you, I have defined myself, to myself, as a writer. That’s what I do, that’s what I am. So: for me to stop writing will pretty much have to wait until I stop, period (pun intended).
.
Yes, I do know I was fortunate with the timing (but also worked extremely hard to get to where I am now.) I recognise the difficulty for older writers in the changing world of publishing. On the other hand, the advent of digital publishing /self publishing does open up opportunities that didn’t exist when I was starting out, and age need not be a barrier to learning new technology and marketing and so on.
I wish you well with your writing, and I’m happy that it is so much a part of you.
Wonderful column, Juliet. I especially like your “stretch goals” now that you have the bulk of your career behind you. Thank you for posting it!
My first book, a mystery, was published in 1992 (when I was 41), and I also had a story appear in a smallish lit journal about the same time. I kept writing after that, mostly stories, but didn’t publish anything else until 1997 — and that was a tech reference book, for Prentice Hall. I did a couple-three more technical books for them, and one for O’Reilly & Associates, between then and 2002.
It’s a weird sort of résumé, and now that I’m writing fiction onlyI’m very nervous about how to present myself to agents and editors. So many of them — entirely understandably — speak of their interest in helping authors shape their careers. But realistically, if a bit morbidly, I’m not likely to have much of a career beyond one or two novels more. (Compounding the issue: I’m writing stuff which for the most part will not become series; they’re one-offs, separate stories, characters, settings, etc.)
One thing I’ve gotten from my mid-60s that I couldn’t get earlier: the “big” novel I started in 1992 features a half-dozen main characters, most of whom are elderly and retired. Now, after 20+ years and numerous drafts, I feel as though I understand them much better than I did as a young and sprightly 40-year-old. :)
Great comment! I always admire writers who include a cast of characters of many different age groups and manage to make them all seem real. Barbara O’Neal is very good at that. I’ve found myself really enjoying writing older protagonists, only so far nobody my age in a central role (mostly because in early medieval times we’d already be dead.)
Hmmm…at 49, I don’t know if I qualify as “older.” My kids certainly think so. At this point, if I should make a living as a writer, it is more of an early retirement from my world of automotive engineering. But my views on writing and what I want to accomplish have matured since I first began. No longer do I dream of the breakout best-seller or a retreat somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness (that’s a lie, I still dream of the Alaskan retreat). My goals–now retrofitted with reality–are more along the lines of writing fiction for young readers that will inspire them to reach much higher than what their peers or the world expects of them. I don’t have figure in mind for the number of readers I reach. So long as I deeply touch the few that choose me as an author worth reading. I actually received an Instagram message (that’s how YA and middle grade authors communicate with their fans) from a youn lady asking if I’d be her mentor for a school assignment. After a brief check of her profile to assure myself that she would not try to sell me body wraps, I happily agreed. It was much more a privelidge for me than for her. Though she may not think so. This is the kind of thing that keeps me going. And I do pray, when I am well into my 60s, 70s, and beyond, kids who aren’t even born as of this writing will still love what I have to offer them. What more could a man ask?
The thing about writing I find most rewarding is neither a book in print (that actually makes me nervous) nor accolades for a job well done (I’m not that good at accepting compliments). The big reward for me is when I know a story and its characters so well, things start fitting together like a puzzle. SO rewarding!
My biggest challenge as a 64-year-old who is 28 in her head is that writing takes a lot out of me. I think it’s because I stay in that head too long when I write and need other activities such as walking and bed-making to balance my day.
What I hope to achieve is for my writing to help someone in some way. As a retired homebody, money and travel aren’t an incentive. The writing and helping are.
Oh, it is so good to read this post and all the comments from “my people.” I spent the first ten years out of college as a writer, then for several reasons suspended serious pursuit of writing for the following 26 years. I hit a wall, of sorts, at 57, no longer able to earn a living, not in great health, either. Friends were dropping dead left and right. If I had to face the end of my own life, what would I most regret not doing? Writing novels, I as intended to do when I first started out in life. So I did, but this time less romantically, less idealistically, less full of myself and more full of life experience. Focused, patiently, on craft. Promised myself to have 3 novels by the time I was 60. And I did it. Working on #4 now, and plan to have a total of 13 by the time I’m 70, if the universe is willing. It gives me a framework in my life, something I’m excited to get up for every single day. And I’m finally happy in my own skin, doing what I was meant to do all along. Onwards and Upwards to us all!
Thank you, Juliet, for helping me rid myself of more internal baggage. For whatever reason, I didn’t realize you got a later start at writing, too. I mean, your publishing history would be amazing if you’d begun at 25, but to have done as much as you have beginning at 50? You’ve just provided me with a generous dollop of hope.
And I have no doubt you’ll continue to self-challenge and provide your readers with a correspondingly wonderful experience.
Hi, Juliet:
I will confess to wanting to avoid your piece this morning for fear it would put me in mind of my own mortality — and all I’ve not accomplished. But I couldn’t help myself, read it to the end, and was quite moved.
What do I still want to accomplish? (And I’m not far behind you on the age scale.) I’m reminded of Saul Bellow’s excellent observation: “Writers are readers inspired to emulation.” I want to write books and stories worthy of the writers I admire.
That’s it. Simple to state. So very hard to do.
Thanks for the lovely post.
Yes, absolutely. What dictates a writer’s career is the stories they have to tell. I don’t think age plays into it, except that perhaps as writers age so too does their experience. Personally, I think most writers improve with age, kind of like fine wine. Here’s wishing you many more years of stories to tell.
My aspirational goal is simply to write one tale as honest, bewitching and deeply personal as “Back and Beyond” by my favorite author, Juliette Marillier. Better than any NYT best seller list, my loyal readers will say, “How does she know this? Where does it come from?” as, indeed, my best friend and I whispered to each other in wonder when we turned the last page of Prickle Moon.
At the end of the day I would love my friends and readers to say, “She told us stories that were wise and true. And she entertained us.”
I often say that about you. And knowing it is possible, you inspire me to read deeply, reflect and write.
Thank you so much, Victoria. I am really touched by this.
I had every ambition to write those untold stories after 40 years of writing at the whim of editors and need of the senator. And yes, I have three novels out now–two of them self-published. But my mentor cautioned that “the biz” doesn’t want older writers. Agents and publishers want only writers with whom they can share several decades of profit. Is that true?
I don’t know the answer but I imagine it is harder for an older writer to get picked up by an agent or editor. (Mind you, I was 50 when I got my first contract, but that was 1998 and times have changed a lot since then.) I do also believe that if the manuscript is wonderful and just what they were looking for, they won’t care about the age of the author.
Great essay, Juliet.
Made me think back at a paraphrased quote from Frederick Busch: the only reason to continue to write is because you can’t not do it.
I started writing at 50, took me 15 years to write two novels, published the first book just last month. Had some of the same aspirations as you–bestseller, accolades from reviewers, etc.–but as time went on and I struggled with craft and artistic vision, I wanted to quit. Thought I was insane to keep trying.
But I kept writing because, as Busch said, I couldn’t _not_ write. And that’s still true. I hope my novels will sell, of course, but it doesn’t matter. When I’m sitting at my computer or in my favorite chair with a notebook in hand, I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. No matter what. I feel fortunate to have that feeling. Many people never do.
You seem like you’ve had a marvelously productive life all around–family, writing, service–and it’s inspiring. Long may it continue.
Thank you for this post.
Fabulous response, Shelley. This strikes me as particularly wise:
Something to remind ourselves of when we are feeling angsty about our writing not flowing quite as we’d like it to.
Hello Juliet,
I’m seventy. I started writing seriously in 1992, at the age of 42. I ended up going to graduate school (so much fun!) and getting an MFA. I published my memoir, “Bound to Love: a memoir of grit and gratitude,” in October, 2015 when I was sixty-nine. I was determined to get it out there before the large marker birthday in November. I started it in 1992, but for many reasons, including learning how to write, it took twenty-three years to publish it.
I’ve also been writing fiction, and am in the third draft of a novel, which I hope will come out in 2017. I started it in the spring of 2014. After that, a sequel….
I feel that writing keeps me alive–it keeps my mind sharp and attentive. I’m always stumped when so many articles are about starting one’s writing career–who starts a career at seventy? Yet looking at my family, I could live another twenty-five years. May I be writing all that time.
Thanks for writing about our age group.
–Skye
You’re welcome, Skye. Yes, writing is excellent brain activity, and a lot more entertaining than crossword puzzles (though one can do both!) Combine that with good physical exercise – for me that’s walking the dogs – and we should be going strong into our nineties. By which time you will have quite a few novels finished!
I’m not sure if at age 60 I’m considered an older writer, but I intend to write for the next 20 years. This will be my second career. I’m just a novice with 1 published nonfiction book, and a second coming out this year. There’s so much to learn! I’m loving the challenge. Good for you, Juliet – as they say, “You go, girl!”
I applaud your successes, even though you down okay them. I’m finally at a place where everything else fell away and I realized how important writing is to me. Hopefully, 51 is not too late to realize my dreams.
Power to your pen! If you feel passionately about it, of course it’s not too late.
I’d be happy to just get some books published and make some money so that I could write more books–while still keeping the day job, of course. Sell a few copies, attend a few signings, talk to a few people.
Really. That’s it.
Making millions from film rights would be great, but it’s not actually a dream. I dream about that like I dream about winning the lottery; pipe dreams, not ones I expect to happen in reality.
That’s a modest and realistic ambition, especially if you consider self-publishing as well as the alternatives. I take the point about ambitions vs dreams. I do know personally a couple of authors who have sold film rights, and have learned that doing so often doesn’t lead to a project going ahead. Only a tiny percentage see the movie come to fruition, be wildly successful and earn those millions!
Juliet, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on writing YA books from an advanced age. I’ve been toying with a science fiction story for young adults, but I’m not confident that I could write for the younger reader at my age.
I see no reason why you couldn’t. There are a couple of things that would help. Firstly, read a few well-regarded science fiction / fantasy books for that age group (recently written ones – the WU Facebook group should have recommendations) and probably some other recent YA fiction as well. Secondly, talk to some kids in the target age group – I’m not sure if you have grandchildren but if you do they can be useful. One of the challenges is capturing the right language and voice for young characters and the young readership. Having said that, I didn’t change my style much in my YA novels – just made them shorter than my adult books and more tightly focused on the personal journey of the young protagonist. But mine are historical fantasy so the language and interactions did not need to be contemporary. It’s important not to ‘write down’ to a younger readership.
“It should never cease to be a journey of learning.” Yes, exactly.
I spent yesterday helping my mother pack and prepare to leave the house in which she’s lived for fifty years. She’s downsizing, as one does at 85. At last the house was empty, hardly a hook left on the walls.
As we turned out the lights for the last time I asked her how she felt. She wasn’t sad. She said, “I feel free.” I wasn’t sad either. I found myself imagining a transformation of the place with floor to ceiling street front windows, slate floors and a shiny new kitchen.
As I get older I feel that way as a writer, too. After 20 books it’s the new challenge that excites me. (And I’ve been on movie sets, it ain’t that exciting.)
Loved this post and it’s message. Thanks. Like Vaughn, I’ll be downloading Angela Slatter too.
What a wise and wonderful comment, Benjamin. How great that your mother was able to feel positive about such a huge move – I can see where you got your upbeat and philosophical attitude!
I hope you enjoy Angela Slatter’s work. It’s pretty dark, but the writing is wonderful, a real master class in storytelling.
I loved your post, Juliet! I started writing at fifty and have published five books; now twenty years later I feel I am coming into a new freedom of experimentation and creativity in my work. Things I couldn’t finish before are bursting out in new, fresh ways. I wonder if when you are older it is more important to say what you really have to say than to endlessly try for that break-out novel…which might actually come when you really reach down into yourself for what is most important. Also having lost my husband has made me see the world very differently. You can either retreat or go forward. I think after having such a loss I am less afraid of being the deepest me. I love what I am doing. Thanks again for the post!
Enjoyed the post so much. I think it expressed what is in the hearts of us writers of a certain age. I have discovered most recently that my thinking has become more reflective, which is why I am working on a set of books much different from the mysteries I’ve had published.
Perhaps as we look ahead and acknowledge that there are more years behind us than in front, we give ourselves permission to relax just a bit and write from our hearts.
BTW, I joke that I plan to die at my computer, and I sincerely hope that is the way I go. Either that or on stage. :-)
Wow that was a lot of comments to read through, but it felt like you really hit a nerve. So many fellow oldies out there all excited to discover they aren’t the only ones. I have to say I’ve never heard what several people quoted as older writers being harder to publish. I’m thinking with the market that retirees represent, the book industry will respond soon enough. I was excited to read that you got started at 50 as I’m in that neighborhood and as yet still with a day job and unpublished work. But, the possibilities are lovely to contemplate.
Juliet, I thoroughly enjoyed your column and all the wonderful comments! I only started writing for children in my 50’s, not yet published, but I always knew it was something I could continue enjoying for decades–if I’m gifted with those years.
I’ve been inspired to tackle the ageism in books for kids and advocate for more diversity of older characters on my blog at A is for Aging. Children truly need to be able to look forward to living a long life! Thanks so much for inspiring and supporting older writers. Lindsey
I write for children, and my challenge is to keep current. (I also write about menopause, and that’s a whole lot easier!) My first grandchild is helping majorly with the keeping current issue. I just changed the word “tricycle” to “balance bike” in a picture book manuscript. You should see my grandson ride his!
Oh, the balance bike! Exciting but a little scary.
Keeping current certainly is important when you’re writing for children, and also (even more so) when writing contemporary stories for young adults. And the best way to learn is to interact with young people of the appropriate age. Also, read current books for that age group by other authors.
PS I think kids still ride tricycles (trikes) as well. They certainly do here in Australia.
Thank you for writing this article. I’m 53 and I just got my first book published even though I have been writing since I was a kid. It has been an amazing rollercoaster of feelings from excitement for a dream come true to being terrified of what others may think about my writing. At my age I am as preoccupied with quality as I am with sell-ability. I read a lot of novels that sell extremely well, but that are so badly written is embarrassing for me as an author. I know it sounds snobbish, but as I get older I DO want to write something that is well-written and I have been agonizing over what I “should” have done now that it is too late to change anything in my published novel. I feel that my time for learning is growing shorter by the day and that I must get it right quicker. Does that make any sense? The other big challenge for me is time. I have a full-time job (teacher) which does not leave me with a lot of wiggle room to dedicate to my writing.
Congratulations on the publication, Natalina! I obsess about quality too. I think all you can do is write the best book you possibly can (including getting feedback along the way and being prepared to listen and make changes.) Then once it’s published, accept that there is nothing more you can do and get on with the next project. Also, don’t stress about reviews. At 53 you have masses of time for learning. I understand how difficult it is to find writing time with a demanding job like teaching – you have to squeeze it in when you can. But if the passion is there you will do it!
Thank you for the kind words. Wish you all the best :)
I missed this last week in my fervor to meet deadlines, but I can’t let it pass without telling you how much I loved it. I’ve been publishing for almost 30 years and recently went through a decided crisis over decisions to make in my career, which has only just resolved. I’m also solidly in my fifties, as Vaughn put it, and still brimming over with ideas in many directions. I feel honored to have found my calling early, to have pursued writing books as my livelihood my whole adult life….but I, too, thought perhaps there might be other things that would happen.
What I’m coming to understand is that this IS the journey, the steps I’m taking right now.
Thanks for such a thoughtful post on something we don’t always want to talk about. And need to! Many, many, many, many of us will live 30 or 40 years past that 60 mark. While it’s wise to have contingency plans in place for the occasion of passing to the other side, it’s also wise to have plans for what to do with all that time if we don’t!
Great article, Juliet. I didn’t begin writing until I was 60, after 2 other successful careers. Although I came to it sort of by accident through tragedy (house fire, forced relocation to a small apartment during the rebuild), I’m so glad it happened because I wouldn’t have considered writing. Now, with 21 books (Indie) to my name and a decent income, I couldn’t be happier.
Writing is easier for me now in my 60’s. The experiences in my memory are sweeter and I have a lifetime of stories and perspectives to draw from. Your article inspires me.
At a romance convention I attended a few years ago, I was told that older writers had difficulty being picked up by publishers or agents because they want a “stable” of years to cultivate a younger writer. So grateful for the Indie movement, such that I never need to look back to see if I’ve made the right decision. If it comes, it comes, but like me, I have realistic goals. And I’m looking for a long-lasting income I can do to be able to “retire” my husband. I’d love for him to be a “kept man” like he’s always dreamed!! LOL.
I am not yet an older writer (I’m turning 35 this year), but I have health issues that mean I may never make it to your age, so in some ways I consider myself further down this road than I might otherwise. :)
I’ve only been full time at this for six years, but my goals have morphed a little. I, too, went in with stars in my eyes, and I try to cling to some of them. I don’t know if I’ll ever make my goals, but it’s so true that the successes and little things along the way make it worth it to keep trying. I just hope I have enough time and energy to get even a small portion of the ideas in my head onto the proverbial page and into reader hands, and that readers keep liking them enough to keep my cats fed and my husband home. ;)
Thanks for writing this. Your Seven Waters series got me through a very dark time in hospital in my 20s and helped contribute to me saying “f-it, I want to follow my dream of being a writer.”
Annie