ARE EVER TOO OLD TO WRITE A NOVEL?
Every once in awhile I find a blog post where I feel the author has read my mind. An example of this is from Marla Madison - Reading and Writing are Fattening where she asks, "Are you ever too old to write a novel?" Her "10 reasons to start writing after 50" Marla Madison is spot on even if you are after 70. I thought you would enjoy this so am re-pubbing it from last February. Her attitude of following your dreams no matter how small the step is something we all need to hold on to.
Are You Ever Too Old to Write a Novel?
Typewriter
Even if you can remember using one of these, with the courage to jump into the digital revolution, you can write and publish a book. If you can’t overcome your techno-fears—hire a kid to help you.
Many people over sixty regard computers and social networking as something they don’t have to learn. They brag they don’t need it, claim it’s too difficult to learn, too expensive, and anyway, what do they need it for except skyping the grandkids?
Everyone has a book in them whether it’s a recipe collection, a life-story memoir, or genre novel. I started writing She’s Not There after I retired. It took me five years to complete.
When I joined a critique group, I found out getting a book published the traditional way by finding an agent and/or a publisher, could take up to twenty years! I didn’t have twenty years to spare, so I published my first eBook on my own.
Ten reasons to start writing after 50.
1. Writing is great brain exercise.
2. You’ll meet new friends with a common goal joining a writer’s critique group.
3. It’s something you can do no matter how incapacitated you are. (If you can put together a jigsaw puzzle, play bingo, or watch TV, you can write!)
4. Add some extra cash to your fixed income.
5. You have more spare time now than you ever will.
6. Unlike a “job,” you can take time off whenever you want.
7. You’ll read other authors with a new respect and learn from them.
8. You’ll always have an excuse. “No, I can’t today, I’m working on my novel.”
9. There’s nothing like having a goal to work toward!
10. And nothing like the satisfaction you’ll get from completing an entire novel.
Dear friends,
This blog is dedicated to all of you readers, who, like me, have always been secretly plotting your own book in your daydreams. Make that dream come true by taking a first step no matter how small. I started by plotting my novel while I walked, then starting on chapter one. If I can do it, so can you!
Take care, have a great week, and keep daydreaming!
Marla
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Some new thoughts from me ~~~~
Now some further thoughts from the mid 70's gang (that not being the 1970's). I have added a few new steps to the process. As Marla said twenty years is a bit too long to wait for the "traditional" route to publish. Once birthing the first novel - sometimes most painfully as I also endured a five year gestation, I knew my daydreaming was not just a waste of time as some may have thought. In the past three years I have indie pubbed The Spruce Gum Box , Granite Hearts, and am nearing first edits on 'Beneath Mackerel Skies'. These three will comprise the Maine historical fiction trilogy 'Maine at Heart'. Now that my story of early Maine settlers 1825 to 1869 is nearly complete my next project is elbowing its way into my imagination. Ah, yes - the swirling creative process that forms a perpetual whirlpool. One of my new friends has just debuted her first historical romance Summer Rose - she is also a mid-seventy author who is caught up in her own run away daydreams. Just a few miles apart, we met through my daughter, co-author with her daughter of The Mommy Orphanage. She assists indie authors through the self pub maze at Alexemi Publishing, http://bit.ly/1dSXC4a. Wow! Been a busy 3 years. Have made many new friends through twitter, Facebook and several author groups. But probably my biggest accomplishment is conquering the many ins and outs of my new iPhone and "The Square" where I can take credit card payments wherever I am. My grandmother would have loved this! So never give up - keep on dreaming. IAN author http://bit.ly/1cDMTMR
Are You Ever Too Old to Write a Novel?
Typewriter
Even if you can remember using one of these, with the courage to jump into the digital revolution, you can write and publish a book. If you can’t overcome your techno-fears—hire a kid to help you.
Many people over sixty regard computers and social networking as something they don’t have to learn. They brag they don’t need it, claim it’s too difficult to learn, too expensive, and anyway, what do they need it for except skyping the grandkids?
Everyone has a book in them whether it’s a recipe collection, a life-story memoir, or genre novel. I started writing She’s Not There after I retired. It took me five years to complete.
When I joined a critique group, I found out getting a book published the traditional way by finding an agent and/or a publisher, could take up to twenty years! I didn’t have twenty years to spare, so I published my first eBook on my own.
Ten reasons to start writing after 50.
1. Writing is great brain exercise.
2. You’ll meet new friends with a common goal joining a writer’s critique group.
3. It’s something you can do no matter how incapacitated you are. (If you can put together a jigsaw puzzle, play bingo, or watch TV, you can write!)
4. Add some extra cash to your fixed income.
5. You have more spare time now than you ever will.
6. Unlike a “job,” you can take time off whenever you want.
7. You’ll read other authors with a new respect and learn from them.
8. You’ll always have an excuse. “No, I can’t today, I’m working on my novel.”
9. There’s nothing like having a goal to work toward!
10. And nothing like the satisfaction you’ll get from completing an entire novel.
Dear friends,
This blog is dedicated to all of you readers, who, like me, have always been secretly plotting your own book in your daydreams. Make that dream come true by taking a first step no matter how small. I started by plotting my novel while I walked, then starting on chapter one. If I can do it, so can you!
Take care, have a great week, and keep daydreaming!
Marla
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Some new thoughts from me ~~~~
Now some further thoughts from the mid 70's gang (that not being the 1970's). I have added a few new steps to the process. As Marla said twenty years is a bit too long to wait for the "traditional" route to publish. Once birthing the first novel - sometimes most painfully as I also endured a five year gestation, I knew my daydreaming was not just a waste of time as some may have thought. In the past three years I have indie pubbed The Spruce Gum Box , Granite Hearts, and am nearing first edits on 'Beneath Mackerel Skies'. These three will comprise the Maine historical fiction trilogy 'Maine at Heart'. Now that my story of early Maine settlers 1825 to 1869 is nearly complete my next project is elbowing its way into my imagination. Ah, yes - the swirling creative process that forms a perpetual whirlpool. One of my new friends has just debuted her first historical romance Summer Rose - she is also a mid-seventy author who is caught up in her own run away daydreams. Just a few miles apart, we met through my daughter, co-author with her daughter of The Mommy Orphanage. She assists indie authors through the self pub maze at Alexemi Publishing, http://bit.ly/1dSXC4a. Wow! Been a busy 3 years. Have made many new friends through twitter, Facebook and several author groups. But probably my biggest accomplishment is conquering the many ins and outs of my new iPhone and "The Square" where I can take credit card payments wherever I am. My grandmother would have loved this! So never give up - keep on dreaming. IAN author http://bit.ly/1cDMTMR
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