Sigh. Am I too old for this?

underpope · Aug 22, 2017

mccardey said:
Time to get back at it then, lad.

I shall! *scribbles furiously*

novicewriter · Aug 22, 2017

I, too, took a long hiatus from writing stories.

The hardest part was starting, again; I thought I'd be behind everyone. But, it's gotten easier, the more I write. So, it might be for you, too. Good luck!

dobiwon · Sep 16, 2017

blacbird said:
Mileage varies. I am too old (71), but I've accepted that. That's my one acceptance. I still write, because I get some kind of subliminal enjoyment out of it, but I don't expect to get anything published anymore.

caw

I too am 71. I've published maybe a dozen short stories and poems over the last 20 years, but I still write and still submit from time to time. I've had two stories published since I turned 70. I'm in the process of writing a middle school novel (of all things!) about teenage detectives that I will be trying to publish. If your mind's young enough to think and your hands aren't so arthritic that they keep you from typing, you're not too old.

CalRazor · Sep 17, 2017

underpope said:
My first career goal when I was a kid was to be a writer, though I confess I let a pulmonologist talk me out of that when I was ten or so ("You want to be a writer? That's an awfully sedentary task. Look for something where you'd move more." Joke's on him, though, I'm a web developer now.).

I picked it up again in high school, where I was told that I was a brilliant writer by all of my teachers (one English teacher even wrote in my yearbook that I was the "finest writer I've ever had the pleasure of teaching"). Then I dropped it while in college to focus on getting my philosophy degree, then after college to focus on my career in tech.

In 2002 I decided that I would start writing seriously again. And now, fifteen years later, I'm still collection rejections, most of them form rejections, and have rarely published any stories (my last one was in 2015, and it was in a "We'll give you either $5.00 or a contributors's copy" market).

And now I'm pushing fifty years old. No pro publications, no novels completed. Am I too old for this at this point? I feel like I am. Or maybe it's just the beer talking?

Yeah, I feel for you. Looking back on your life and realizing you haven't achieve that dream really does sting. I only have one publication under my belt from an e-zine that publishes poetry. I did have one request from a journal to submit a different short story, but I never followed up on it. Only about half-way through a bizarre novel I'm not sure I want to re-read.

I think writing is worth it, despite rejections, if it's something you enjoy. I do.

Sigh. Am I too old for this?

underpope

novicewriter

dobiwon

Planning to retire for the 5th time

CalRazor