Never Too Late

One of my favorite quotes is from George Elliott. “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” This is what encouraged my adventure with the writing world.

I didn’t write as a child. For a brief time, I wrote silly stories about adventures with The Monkees when I was a teenager along with my friend who also had a crush on them—and when I say silly, I mean it! Thankfully, I didn’t save those stories to reread or I might have lost my nerve when I decided to write.

I didn’t write as a young adult, or even as a middle-age adult, but was instead, an avid reader. I’m one of those people who, if I don’t have a new book ready to read when I’m half-way through one, I hurry to write “go to the library” on my To Do list.

No, I discovered writing as an older adult—not quite a senior citizen, but close! I never thought I could write a book; it took many life experiences to teach me that I could try anything. I had to learn that failure is just a stop on the journey, like refueling, and that it taught me as much, actually much more, than success.

Therefore, I went into it with a completely open mind. I cherished learning something new. The difference between this and learning other new skills was that it mattered more. Once I embraced the idea that I wanted to be a writer, I really, really wanted to be a writer. When I attended my first SCBWI conference, I was absolutely enthralled to be in the presence of so many writers and would-be writers. This was my world. I knew it immediately. I treasure the memory of sitting down at the computer, figuring out how to use Microsoft Word, and...typing.  

A few times I have regretted that I didn’t find this passion earlier. My story file is crammed so full of ideas that I will need to live to be at least a hundred with full mental faculties and finger-dexterity intact. Still, I think there is an advantage to coming to it later with so many life experiences to give me a positive mental attitude. The rejections hurt, of course they did, but it didn’t take me long—I gave myself about a week to fume and fuss—to start a new project with gusto.

My goals are not what they would have been if I had started when I was twenty, or even thirty. I don’t really care if I’m published by the Big Six. (I’m not even sure I can name them.) I like my little publisher and feel like they care about me—and most importantly, they share my worldview and my standards.

So, here I am at this stage of life with some new additions to my “personal dictionary” under contentment: (1) to let my imagination soar and create new worlds and people to live in them, (2) to constantly learn new skills to tell a story better.

Life is good, especially the writing life.

If you would like, share your thoughts about the writing life and how you came to it. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?