In Defense of Older Writers

With regard to my publishing, I don't advertise my age. You guys have a pretty good idea how old I am, but my books have enough hurdles to jump without adding one more.

There's a perception that older authors are out of touch—charmingly quaint, perhaps, but unrelatable. Old(er) writers can pen Murder, She Wrote-type mysteries, where the main character witnesses something odd in the library, because old readers need books, too, but stick to what you know, Grandma.

The thing is, in my twenties, I didn't know all that much about the world. Oh, I thought I did, but don't all twenty-somethings? And despite my ignorance, I was very firm in my opinions. I hadn't been around long enough to gain perspective. Hadn't yet been exposed to the vagaries of human experience. 

Well, now I have.

What that experience taught me was how to create three-dimensional characters. Humans are funny. They don't necessarily travel a straight line through life, even if they intend to. Things happen; their true selves happen. They sometimes confound themselves with their own actions—sometimes for the good, sometimes to their detriment. They have regrets; they have unrealized dreams. Other people don't always behave the way we want them to. The world consists of good guys and...saboteurs who pretend to be your friend. (Don't ask me how I know.) Everything is not always what it seems. People can be unexpectedly kind and they can betray you.

All of that has the makings of a good story.

On a technical note, in my twenties I didn't know how to write in an interesting way. I did some writing from time to time, scribblings generally. I'd start something, but never finish it. I felt constrained because I couldn't write the way I wanted to. I'd use the same words over and over because I didn't have a wide vocabulary yet. 

I also didn't have enough "material" to write something original. I focused a lot on my past experiences, such as they were, and that was limiting. What I needed was to encounter the outside world, expose myself to new circumstances and to people with different outlooks from my own. 

I needed to become more well-rounded.

I'm actually surprised that more writers don't wait until later in life to become published authors.

Older writers know that nothing is black and white, and that's where drama comes from. 

If you're an older author putting your book(s) out in the world, you might think it's fun telling everyone that you're eighty-one years old (I'm not, just to be clear) and that you thought you'd "give writing a try before it's too late". That might get you a couple of pity sales, but unfortunately, your work won't be taken seriously. Ageism is real. I publish under a pen name, I use a younger photo of myself for my bio, my biography isn't comprehensive enough to date me. I don't lie, per se, unless one considers an actual photo of me a lie. (It's still me, not a stock image I grabbed off the internet.) I just choose not to spill all my life's beans.  

I prefer that potential and actual readers regard me as someone with a lot of wisdom and a unique way of viewing the world, rather than a weary, broken-down hag who belongs to a different, obsolete time.

We older writers have much to offer the world, but we've gotta get the world to read us in order for them to find that out.