Things change with age…that is a fact of life. We all age and as we age, we change. Recently, I have become more aware of this than normal and I have especially become more aware of it in terms of my writing. Age….has changed that too.
When I was younger I wrote with reckless abandon. I didn’t worry about leaping into a safety net; I didn’t need no stinkin net. I was a writer….and a fearless one at that. I didn’t worry about failing or even if anyone was actually going to read my stuff…I simply assumed that they would. But now I am older…and, dare I say, wiser. I have now made all of the mistakes 20 + years of writing allows and I am at least hoping that I have some of it right.
Aging as a writer should make you and your writing more mature and that is a good thing. As we get older and presumably wiser, we need to embrace the experiences of life while trying not to lose a little of that dare devil from our youth. I have become a better writer as I have aged because experience has colored my outlook on things. While I may have looked at issues such as death and life one way when I was young, my life experience has helped me to develop a different outlook as I have gotten older and that is good for me as a writer.
Have you ever been at the mall people watching when a woman who is, let’s say a little further in years, walks by dressed in the clothes of a teenager? Your first thought is wow and your second is one of pity. “Isn’t it a shame that she hasn’t grown up” might be your thought…readers will say the same of your writing if you are not careful. So age gracefully fellow writers and wear the words of an experienced writer…readers will notice if you don’t act your age.
© The Writer’s Advice, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.