Newbie curious about the members here.

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Pollyanna, Shedder of Casual Blood
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Heh. You know you never ask a lady about her age, right? :D
 

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!
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We're both. We have a LOT of members, from all over the globe. Some are newbies just starting and others are career writers. Many started out here AS newbies and grew to be published. We're very inclusive here and have been around a long time. :D
 

jvc

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It seems you joined the site back in october 2008, I won't go through the whole welcome thing and instead I'll just say welcome back :welcome:

Oh, and don't forget to read the newbie guide. It really couldn't hurt, now, could it? ;)
 
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Chris P

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Hello Relayer! Welcome to AW.

Since I'm not a lady I'll tell you I'm 39, been writing since I was a teen, with a break from my mid 20s to early 30s. I was about 35 when I started getting serious about publishing. I've learned more in four months here than I did in all the previous time of self-study. I have a fulfilling day job, so I'm okay being a hobbyist writer. Not that I'd turn my back on million dollar advances. As Bullwinkle Moose says, that's antihistamine money; nothing to sneeze at.
 

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Pollyanna, Shedder of Casual Blood
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Here's my answer:

When I was younger, I never dared to dream that I might ever even possess the slightest bit of 'talent' needed to write down a story, let alone that people would want to read it. So I didn't.

Now I do. I know that people like to read my stuff, I just have difficulty understanding why :D I don't really write with the ultimate goal of getting published (although it would be awesome), but I write to get the stories out of my head. Since I now have my own company, make my own schedule and spend most of my time at my laptop anyway, writing is easy to fit in. I don't know if I would be as prolific as I'm now if it were less so.

I'm 32, by the way :D And welcome to AW! :hi:
 

Nickie

Not too old to learn
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Hi there, and welcome! I'm not so young anymore (although I still feel young at heart) and I've been writing since I was a wee little lass. But I did not consider getting published until I became 50.


Nickie
 

jvc

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i expected a general reply like this but I know these sites do have general age and gender range statistics. for instance i belong to a car website which has mostly young male members between the ages of 19-27. This kind of answer to my question is what I was looking for to help me evaluate my own malaise with my writing habits.
I'm not sure about the general statistics, perhaps the admin of the site would be able to access them (you can PM them about that), but the general membership can't, and I can't either, as far as I can see anyway. I'll have another look later, but so far I've got nothing.

Let's face it, optimism and the creative drive are youthful endeavors for the most part. As we age we are less and less inclined to aspire, dream and dare, never mind sacrifice and pursue against all odds.
Not sure I'd agree with that statement. Not entirely anyway. I came to writing pretty late, and wasn't interested in it when I was young (although young for one person is not young for another, so that is a matter of perception). I know of other writers who had no interest in writing when they were young, and now that they are old (we're talking 60's and even 70's here) they have the drive and ambition to write a novel and to get it published, a drive and ambition that wasn't there before.
 

Chumplet

This hat is getting too hot
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I'm not afraid to reveal my age. I'll be 51 in June. I dabbled in writing as a teen, but detoured into my other passion, art. After getting married, raising a couple of kids and floating aimlessly through a graphic arts career, I took the refurbished laptop my husband gave me and pounded out the stories that had been floating in my head for years.

I have a few novels e-published and I'm now on the search for an agent with my fourth. I consider this the beginning of an exciting new chapter in my life.
 
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shadowwalker

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Well, I'm 55, and when I was very young (and into my late 20s) I wrote a lot, though never got the ambition/confidence to try to publish. About five years ago I found myself on my own again and got into fanfic, which has now led me trying to see if I can get published. And the enthusiasm is actually greater now than it was when I was younger. Kinda like, hey, it's my turn now! ;)
 

dgiharris

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We're both. We have a LOT of members, from all over the globe. Some are newbies just starting and others are career writers. Many started out here AS newbies and grew to be published. We're very inclusive here and have been around a long time. :D

I am in this club.

Would have never gotten published without AW

Mel...