Friday Musings 7/28/2017
Another Friday has come with more thoughts for the week. I could put together a blog of all these thoughts.... Well, the most pervasive thought this week, at least, is age. I just turned 40 this past June and I've been thinking a lot about it--seeing all the young writers on Twitter. We are all in a race against time. When you're young, you put things off--procrastinate. As you get older you realize time is precious. When you really start getting up in age, you kick yourself for having wasted all that precious time. You want to jump and kick-start things into gear. You may start to worry, sometimes panic. It's time to get your act together. But is it too late?
As the saying goes, it's never too late. Right? Well, it's all perspective. There are writers now who start at a very young age. And yes, you say, they can't know too much about life, right? Well, just as robots can mimic life, these kids are prodigies who can mimic experience. They read. A lot.
I know I read somewhere where Dean Koontz said one should really try to publish a novel in their thirties, probably due to experience and such. I agree. Not everyone is a prodigy. If you want a well rounded story--and more novels after that--your average person with a life experience is your best bet. Not saying the young writer isn't good. Some youth grow too fast due to circumstances and outside influence. Can that prodigy mimic life over and over? And then what happens when life happens to that kid? When they grow they will be at odds with what they've learned. Styles will clash because they've been writing from the perspective of something copied, and now real life experience is coming into play. Or something like that. I might have the whole mess of it wrong. Ah. Over thinking.
It's never too late. There are plenty of authors who start later in life. I have been writing for a long time, but only just recently began seriously submitting. I admit, I was a big-time procrastinator. A lot of it was feeling not ready. But if you don't jump in, you'll never know how it is. You'll just sit on the sidelines, dabbing your toe in theory. You'll never gain the true experience that goes with being scrutinized by eyes other than your family or friends.
So perhaps age does make the difference after all. What do you think?
WCM
As the saying goes, it's never too late. Right? Well, it's all perspective. There are writers now who start at a very young age. And yes, you say, they can't know too much about life, right? Well, just as robots can mimic life, these kids are prodigies who can mimic experience. They read. A lot.
I know I read somewhere where Dean Koontz said one should really try to publish a novel in their thirties, probably due to experience and such. I agree. Not everyone is a prodigy. If you want a well rounded story--and more novels after that--your average person with a life experience is your best bet. Not saying the young writer isn't good. Some youth grow too fast due to circumstances and outside influence. Can that prodigy mimic life over and over? And then what happens when life happens to that kid? When they grow they will be at odds with what they've learned. Styles will clash because they've been writing from the perspective of something copied, and now real life experience is coming into play. Or something like that. I might have the whole mess of it wrong. Ah. Over thinking.
It's never too late. There are plenty of authors who start later in life. I have been writing for a long time, but only just recently began seriously submitting. I admit, I was a big-time procrastinator. A lot of it was feeling not ready. But if you don't jump in, you'll never know how it is. You'll just sit on the sidelines, dabbing your toe in theory. You'll never gain the true experience that goes with being scrutinized by eyes other than your family or friends.
So perhaps age does make the difference after all. What do you think?
WCM
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