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| Photo credit: Nick-K (Nikos Koutoulas) on Flickr |
I hope that anyone reading this blog knows that’s laughably inaccurate, but just in case: no, it’s not even close to true.
Here’s the thing: some people do start writing with the intention of being published in high school, or even before high school. And you know? That’s really cool. I give virtual high-fives and pats on the back to those teens because it takes more sacrifice than you might think to start pursuing a writing career that early on.
But those people are not the majority of writers. Not even close.
There are plenty of writers who don’t write their first book until college. Or until they’re in their thirties. Or until their kids have left for college. Or until they’ve retired.
None of them are wrong. None of them are lesser than those who started earlier in life. None of them are more or less “real” of a writer than the other, and believe it or not, their chances of getting published have absolutely nothing to do with their age.
I know I’m probably preaching to the choir, here, but generalizing, inaccurate statements put out to discourage people just make me really ragey.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: every writer has their own journey. Some writers indeed start in their early teen years and get published before they turn twenty—others start at the same time and don’t get published until they’ve graduated college. Some writers start in their twenties and get published a few years later. Some start after the birth of their first kid and get published five or ten years later. The possibilities are literally endless and how quickly someone gets published, or how successful they are after they’ve published has absolutely nothing to do with how old they were when they started writing.
You know what does matter? The writing.
That’s it.
If your dream is to be a published author, and you’re fifteen, or thirty-seven, or fifty-eight, or eighty-four, your age is irrelevant. What matters is that you’re dedicated, and work hard to improve your writing and your manuscript, and study the publishing industry, and read, read, read, and have patience. What matters is that you don’t stop until you’ve seen your dreams realized.
Age isn’t important. Your writing is.
What do you think?
Twitter-sized bites:
Writer @Ava_Jae says it doesn't matter how old you are when you start writing. What do you think? (Click to tweet)
Writer @Ava_Jae says when it comes to getting published, age is irrelevant. Do you agree? (Click to tweet)
