Writers--Age Doesn't Matter

 

When people retire, they often seek new outlets with the extra time they have. Some take up art, or making pottery, or intensive gardening. Others may have had a yen to write for many years, and now they can pursue becoming a hobbyist writer or one who writes to publish. Or even the family historian.

The desire is there, but there's also some fear that maybe this is trying something that's too difficult at the 'mature' stage of life. Maybe it's only a pipe dream. Maybe I should have pursued it in my younger years. Maybe my brain isn't working well enough to be a writer. All reasonable thoughts but also ones that will only help you talk yourself out of trying something.

There is no set age when a person should start writing. There is also no set age when it is time to quit. 

I wanted to write from the time I was in grade school, but I allowed life to get in the way and kept putting it off until suddenly I hit my mid-fifties. A situation in life left me at loose ends, being in a different community with little to do. It proved to be the perfect time for me to begin writing. It didn't frighten me because I had wanted to pursue the writing world for so very long. I plunged in headfirst and have kept on to this very day. 

If you're wondering if I could write well enough to be published right away, the answer is an emphatic No! Whether you're 20 or 50 or 70 when you begin, you're exactly that--a beginner. It's great when people do start writing with no other thought than writing itself. But, as time goes on, you begin to realize that you need to learn a little more about this craft. 

That's when you must start reading about writing, mingle with other writers in groups or one-on-one, start doing writing exercises, learning all you can about the editing process. In addition, you must train yourself to write something every day. Short or long does not matter. Just the fact of practicing your craft every day will help you become a better writer. 

Don't ever let age stop you from pursuing a dream. A big plus for those who begin writing later in life is that they have a great many life experiences to draw from. 

Stop questioning your self and start writing!

One Very Short Classic

On recommendation from my friend, and fellow blogger, Annette Gendler, I checked out a book from our library that is short, classic, entertaining and more. Annette wrote about the book at her blog a week or so ago. http://www.annettegendler.com/2011/05/reading-in-love-with-84-charing-cross.htmI

I read the book in one sitting for 84, Charing Cross Road is only 97 pages, has no foreword or afterword. Helene Hanff, a New York City resident and writer, carried on a correspondence with a bookstore in London for twenty years. The letters, and that is all you'll find in this book, cover a period of twenty years--1949 to 1969. The author purchases old and special edition books from the bookstore, and in the course of the twenty years, the letter writers build a relationship that melds into friendship. 

Ms. Hanff is often blunt and caustically funny but also generous and caring as we see in letter after letter. Frank Doel is at first the formal British businessman, but it isn't long before he allows himself to be himself in his letters. 

We see the progression in the lives of the bookstore personnel and also Ms Hanff as she moves from one type of writng to another, eking out a living and always planning a trip to England. The letters show a slice of history as we watch postwar Britain and the evolution in Ms Hanff's writing world when TV shows mesmerized the American public. We see the difference in cultures as well as the many similarities. And best of all, we are thoroughly entertained by these charming letters. 

Spend an afternoon or evening with 84, Charing Cross Road and I think you'll agree. Definitely a classic memoir. Thanks Annette, for recommending it.

 

A Passion For Reading

The greatest gift is the passion for reading.
It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you
knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind.
It is moral illumination.
(Elizabeth Hardwick, 1989)

Elizabeth Hardwick was an editor, writer, critic and co-founder of the New York Review of Books. Who better to have made the comment above? I am in full agreement of her assessment of reading, and mostly the passion for reading that is within the quote.

To be a real reader, you must be passionate about it. None of this reading a book once a year and an occasional glance at a newspaper or magazine. If you’re passionate about reading, never a day goes by that you don’t read something. To me, reading is nourishment for the soul.

And like any recipe, reading requires more than one ingredient. No one would read without writers, editors, and publishers. They bring us the words that fill us with knowledge and/or entertain us. Some of us will never be more than a reader, but others who work in the writing world reap double benefits. Not only can they pursue a passion for reading, but they can offer reading material to the world.

I read two newspapers a day, sometimes three since my husband recently subscribed to the Wall St. Journal. I am always in the process of reading a book. When one is finished, there is another waiting for me. I also enjoy reading magazines. Do I read every single word? In a book, more often than not, I do. The newspapers and magazines I read the parts that appeal most to me, which is usually a good share.

I believe Ms. Hardwick and I would have gotten along quite well as we are of the same mind when it comes to the passion for reading. I’ve heard people comment that they don’t have time to read books, magazines and newspapers. They do have time to spend endless hours in front of a TV or a computer or an electronic game. It’s not they don’t have time, rather that they don’t take time to read. Maybe you need that passion for reading before you make it a priority.

Another Writer I Admire

Wanda Bates is another writer I admire. I had the good fortune to meet her in a Sunday afternoon writers group that I attended a number of years ago. Once a month half a dozen members of the Kansas Authors Club gathered to read their work aloud, discuss writing and enjoy the common bond they shared.

When Wanda read her work to the group, I always paid close attention for her words were simple, but strong. Her essays and memoirs were filled with subtle wit and wonderful glimpses of life as it once was. A friendship grew from those Sunday afternoons. Wanda's one fault is in not tooting her own horn. So I encouraged her to submit some of her work to various online sites where I'd had some success myself. As a result, she has been published many times and even won awards at http://www.ourecho.com/  She has also been published in other print publications through the years.

She wrote an award winning essay called "On Being Ninety" a few years ago. Yes, I did say a few years ago. Wanda will celebrate her 95th birthday in less than a month. She lives in an assisted living facility and is quite frail physically, but her mind is sharp and active, and she continues to write family history after a niece requested that she do so.

She is a stickler for using good grammar, and I admire that, too. In today's world of abbreviating when texting or e-mailing, I fear good grammar may never return.

Her work at OurEcho includes a three part look at war years, called "Wars and Rumors of Wars." Both WWI and WWII are included. "Three Years In A Teacherage" tells of her years living in what was termed a "teacherage" in the 1930's in rural Iowa. A brought-to-life piece of history. She has written of her few months living in a nursing home after an illness forced the decision to give up independent living. Unlike many others, she graduated from Health Care up to Assisted Living.

I am always encouraged after I visit Wanda. She is living proof that a writer doesn't have to give up writing as age creeps up. I know now that I can keep writing as long as my mind is all right and my desire to write still strong. Throw in a continued sense of humor like she has, and it's easy to see why Wanda is still writing at almost-ninety-five.

Read Wanda's essay on achieving the age of ninety at http://www.ourecho.com/story-373-On-Being-90.shtml and then check her other stories listed at http://www.ourecho.com/ I can promise you'll be entertained.