Never Too Late

This Tuesday’s guest on my podcast Author2Author is Siena Sterling, who just published her debut novel, Tell Us No Secrets, at the somewhat unusual age of 70-something. Prior to that she’d been a bookseller and a journalist and worked on political campaigns – and moved from the States to London where she got married and raised her family. In other words, she’s had a full life.

But she’s not done with it, and that life now includes writing novels. Her next is finished and on her editor’s desk. I love it when I get a chance to talk to writers like Siena. In my work as a teacher and coach, I often encounter men and women who have also led full lives, who may have retired, and now would like to write books. Sometimes these people fear it’s too late for them. They’re simply too old; the prime, ripe season of their creativity has passed, and they’re fooling themselves if they think they can start what amounts to a new career when they should be planning their next Alaskan Cruise or volunteering at their local polling station.

I would point these budding writers to authors like Siena, but it wouldn’t help. The challenge a writer in their sixties or seventies or eighties faces is the same as that of a writer in their twenties or thirties. We all must be willing to answer the question: Is the fact that I’m interested in telling these stories enough of a reason to do it? Full stop. If the answer is, yes, then away you go. If it’s, no, if you absolutely can’t begin without some guaranteed result, I wouldn’t bother.

The reason it’s more challenging for older writers is that many of them have spent most of their lives believing that the value of how they spent their time was measured by who they took care of or how much money they made. Their “fun,” what they did just because they liked it, was for after all the real work was over. This approach won’t work for writing. The pleasure and curiosity are the reality, are the fuel and result. It’s never too late to be interested something, never too late to tell a story, to follow a path as long as the light remains by which you’re guided.

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

William KenowerWriting, William Kenower, AGe, Age, Siena SterilingComment