Are You Ever Too Old to Become a Writer?

 

Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Writer

I jumped into a writing career in my mid-40s. I was an assistant controller for a manufacturing company before that.

With my accounting background, writing about business and marketing was a natural fit… or so it seemed at the time.

My first gig as a freelance writer was for a company that offered human resources solutions. They had two related (sister) sites; I wrote articles for one site and rewrote them for the other.

Rewriting can be fun but also challenging, as it’s crucial to have the new content pass a duplicate content checker.  

The reason for this is Google doesn’t like duplicate content on your website or your related sites.

Heath writing was soon added to the mix, which was more lucrative than the business and marketing writing.

I supplied an allergy site with about 100 articles per month. I had to hire subcontractors to help with this project.

I also did academic rewriting and editing for health professionals.

Then I decided to add on writing for children.

It seemed like a natural addition as I had written a bedtime lullaby when my first daughter was a baby – to help her fall asleep. I turned it into a children’s bedtime picture book in 2008.

Soon, though, I was stretching myself too thin as you can imagine. That’s never a good thing for a number of reasons.

-You can’t devote the time and focus needed to a particular genre.
-You don’t have a strong platform or brand.
-And, you know the saying: Jack of all trades, master of none. This is definitely not a good thing. It should always be quality over quantity.

I had to decide what genre I would focus on.

Focus is essential to success.

As the children’s writing really took off and grew each year, and I love to bring children on journeys, that’s the genre I chose.

And that’s how my children’s writing career got started.

Another example of never being too old to follow your dreams is a client I worked with a couple of years ago.

I got a query from a woman who had a children’s picture book published by Houghton Mifflin in 1988.

She had a 25,000-word middle-grade story she had been submitting to agents but wasn’t getting any interest. She asked if I’d review it. After a few emails, I learned she was 92 years old!

Ninety-two! And she was following her dream!

She inspired me.

Working and raising seven children on her own during most of their growing-up years didn’t leave room for writing, especially as she had to work. Once she was able, she got back to it, though. She wanted to publish more stories.

After consulting with this client, she turned her middle grade into a chapter book, and I edited it for her. She then self-published. I went on to review and edit several shorter stories for her.

And there are lots of other late bloomers.

The very successful authors listed below also started their writing careers later in life:

Toni Morrison - Age 40
Mark Twain - Age 41
J.R.R. Tolkien - Age 45
Raymond Chandler - Age 51
Annie Proulx - Age 57
Laura Ingalls Wilder - Age 65
Frank McCourt - Age 66 (1)

So, if you’re wondering if it’s too late to start writing, IT’S NOT.

One of my favorite sayings is: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

If you have the desire to write for children, but haven’t gotten started yet, GET STARTED TODAY!

This article was first published at: https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/2022/01/16/you-are-never-too-old-to-be-a-writer/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach. If you need help with your story, visit Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

Karen also offers authors:

HOW TO WRITE A CHILDREN'S FICTION BOOK
A DIY book to help you write your own children’s book.

WRITERS ON THE MOVE SELF-PUBLISHING HELP
Self-publishing help for children’s authors.