Is It Too Late to Start Writing After 50?

is it too late to start writing

Today’s guest post is by author and physician executive Julie Rosenberg.


I have always wanted to write a book.

I grew up with a father who was an English professor and a high school principal. He stressed four things to his two daughters:

  1. Learn to stand on your own two feet.
  2. Pursue a career that you love and don’t let others dissuade you.
  3. Choose to meet the obstacles that you will face head-on.
  4. Learn to read, write, and speak well. He told us these abilities would serve us in all situations and in any career.

I have come to recognize in the intervening years that he was absolutely right.

By fourth grade, I was a passionate reader. I would wake before dawn and sit at the kitchen table, devouring Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series and the Nancy Drew series. As I grew older, I started writing some short stories of my own. In high school, I loved taking English classes. I wrote (and re-wrote) paper after paper to make them better. It was grueling work—particularly since I attended high school prior to the widespread availability and use of computers and so all of my papers were typewritten. Still, I had always excelled at and enjoyed science as well and, by graduation, I knew that I would pursue a career in medicine.

Although I had to make sacrifices to pursue a medical career—including putting aside any immediate literary aspirations— I have never regretted my decision to become a physician. This choice has given me great opportunities to serve patients in a variety of ways for the past 25 years. And it turned out that language and writing have actually been a central part of my career in medicine. In the past, health consumers had to rely primarily on their physicians in order to receive health-related information, but now 21st-century patients can access health information with just the tap of a button. Writing has allowed me to translate medical information and scientific research into clear health messages and, by so doing, I have been able to empower patients to make more informed decisions regarding their healthcare decisions.

Today, I am over age 50 with a full-time career in a demanding corporate role. It may seem to some like far from the ideal time to write a book. In fact, several family members and friends told me that I was nothing short of crazy when I mentioned my book idea. The wider literary world is so focused on the up and comers, with the National Book Foundation recognizing “5 Under 35” and the New York Public Library’s selecting their “Young Lions.” And yet, I believe—and I’m living proof myself—that one can have a very successful writing career later in life. I also believe that doing something new later in one’s career helps to keep you young.

Beyond the MatMy forthcoming book is the result of the observations and learnings from my life in corporate America as a physician executive working in global roles and my years as a yoga practitioner and instructor. It is the culmination of many years of observation, an assimilation of information and professional experience. I would not have been able to write it earlier in my life.

Setting about a writing career later in life is a different process than it is for those just beginning a career. I am fortunate to be considered successful by most standards, as I have a medical degree and good business acumen, and I have climbed the corporate ladder to a high-ranking role in a male-dominated business environment. As a writer, I am starting from scratch. I have been building my social network from the ground up (I was not previously a regular user of any social media forum) and working to get the attention of influential people to whom I may be viewed as “just” a first-time author. I lecture regularly to large groups, and I have been a keynote speaker for corporations, patient forums, and premier health spas. Now, in support of my book, I am faced with the task of asking independent bookstores to schedule events for an unknown author without any kind of sales track record. It has not been easy to start again in this way; it has been a humbling experience, to say the least. But I have been gratified by the support of many wonderful people in a variety of disciplines along this journey. In addition, I have learned to speak a new language—that of publishing!

I am also better prepared for this journey than my younger self may have been. The depth of my experiences—both personally and professionally—have informed my world view and, with it, my writing. The sum of my experiences and expertise allowed me to see the societal need for the book that I wanted to write and the platform that I planned to create. Given my business experiences, l found myself reasonably well-equipped to handle the challenges of the business of publishing. I have always been bold, and I learned at an early age to ask for what I want. In my corporate career, I learned when to push back if I get a “no” and to shoot for the moon.

These instincts have served me well in terms of getting information about my book out there to the wider world. Most of all, writing the book has had rewards that I never would have experienced had I not written it. Even pre-publication, I have been overwhelmed by the incredible early endorsements and praise I’ve gotten and by the feedback I’ve received from my blogging and my introduction to communities that have supported me and the book. It’s an encouraging glimpse at the positive impact that my new book will have in helping people to enhance their lives and maintain good health and well-being in these times of busyness and uncertainty. I’ve found a new sense of purpose in my life, and a way to pay it forward by helping people to lead their best lives. I view my book as “preventive medicine” for everyone.

In the words of Henry Ford, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” So keep learning. Take a risk. Try something new. Believe in yourself. Think positively. Think about what all the wisdom of your years makes you uniquely positioned to write about.

And, most of all, don’t use age as an excuse. It’s not your age, it’s your story and your message that are important to your readers.

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Jeanne

Annie Proulx didn’t start writing till she was 58.

One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from actress Carol Matthau: “There is no old age. There is, as there always was, just you.”

Age isn’t a reason not to write. It’s just an excuse.

Lynne Spreen

I didn’t know that about Annie Proulx. Be still my heart!! My copy of The Shipping News will forever live on my bookshelf. Thanks for that mood-boost, Jeanne.

Ellen

I didn’t know that about Annie Proulx either. As someone who is trying to write her first novel in her 50s, it’s very encouraging to read about other folks who have done the same thing.

Julie Rosenberg

Hi Jeanne, So true about Annie Proulx! And I love that quote. Thanks for sharing!

Vicki Weisfeld

The story a writer tells may be what’s important to readers, as Rosenberg says, but will they get the chance to tell it? I wonder whether agents–many of whom are young–and publishers looking for authors whose careers they can invest in feel the same. Older “new” writers I’ve met feel they get short shrift.

Jeff Shear

You’re so right. I came across this item recently, and I think it says something important: Think first of yourself as a story teller … https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar/storytelling/we-are-all-storytellers/a/glossary

Julie Rosenberg

That’s a great piece, Jeff. Thank you for sharing!

Pam Rauber

I’m glad you point this out. There is a vast difference in non-fiction, self-help books and fiction where I think ageism exists to a small degree.
Last year I attended a Writers’ Conference. A thirty-five ish publisher stood before a sea of white-haired septuagenarians, a few octogenarians. The young editor published Southern Literature. The topic was Query. The audience didn’t like the idea of querying. I get the part of snappy subject lines to grab attention considering editors receive a thousand queries a day.
A woman I knew to be age seventy-five asked. “Do you publish stories written by people older than say…fifty, sixty, seventy?”
He paced back and forth and finally replied. “Sure. There is one man in his seventies who we’ve published.”
A wave of moans and groans moved across the gallery.
I don’t blame publishers because they are in business to make money, and there is a lot of work on their part, but if you write a compelling mystery or thriller, or in this publishers case, a compelling southern piece of literature, it won’t matter your age provided you as a writer are marketable in the publishers eyes. You especially have to be active in social media. That! was a demand by this publisher. He was up front about Facebook and twitter and Instagram because he expects his writers to “buy a box of books and keep them in your trunk. Promote, promote, promote.” His words.
I have no research to back this up, only speaking to a lot of writers who are in their sixties and seventies who’ve turned to self-publishing after never hearing back from publishers or agents. I’ve also just learned, a fiction writer can partner with a publishing company. They get a cut of your profits in exchange for an email list of subscribers. Times have changed. So, there are ways for aging writers to get their stories seen.
When you think about it. If you have to do all the work, why let a publisher take most of the money. It’s a right of passage to be rejected, but…don’t spend a lot of time collecting those rejections.

Julie Rosenberg

Hi Vicki, I think that, in some ways, age can be appealing to an agent who is looking for client with experience. My corporate background was certainly an important part of my pitch and the book itself, and that experience is only something that comes with time. It’s just a matter of finding the right agent who appreciates those parts of yourself as they make up the whole.

Rasana Atreya

I was in a private conversation with a member of the Internet Writing Workshop some time ago. I was feeling sorry for myself that my first book would be published only after I turned 40. He told me his own story, about how the internet had changed his life post-retirement – he had started writing stories in his 80s. He ended the email with – “quit your whining, girl!”

Best advice I ever received.

Julie Rosenberg

Hi Rasana, That’s great! Good for him. It just goes to show: Never give up!

Stephanie L. Robertson

Way to go for him!

Jeff Shear

It’s often said writers peak at age 50. That may be true. It may also be true that full-on writers exhaust their best ideas after a certain who-knows-what age. Their enthusiasm evaporates. Writing doesn’t get easier, and a writer’s last success guarantees nothing going forward.

What then of the writer who comes to the game late, age 60 or 70? The situation and the challenges change. I would suggest that it all comes down to passion. Can an aging tyro gut out the apprenticeship phase of writing? Does the word “career” apply in the case of an older writer? And what about the doubt and uncertainty that comes with the territory?

The question then becomes one of goals. Does the aging writer need some diploma? What validates an individual as a writer (apart from praise, success, and cash)? And who needs validation, anyway?

Julie Rosenberg

Hi Jeff, Writing is certainly not easy, but there’s another thing to be said about coming to the table as a newbie post-50: Everything is new. My book just came out last week, and I am already brimming with ideas for the next. I don’t have the exhaustion that comes from being a working writer for the last few decades, and that freshness is certainly energizing creatively.

Wally Bock

I don’t know about fiction writers, but I think that many people who write nonfiction are just beginning to hit their stride at 50. I coach people who write business books. About half of them began writing their first book after fifty. They bring something younger writers can’t: life experience. That experience finds its way into their books, their discipline, and their willingness to work to shape and polish their work.

Florence Osmund

I’m living proof that it’s not too late to start writing after 50—after spending a long career working in corporate America, I published my first book at 62 and am currently working on numbers six and seven. I’m currently 68. I agree that starting a writing career later in life is a different process than it is for those just beginning their career. In some ways it’s easier because you have all that life experience to help you create stories (if you write fiction). In other respects, it’s harder—teaching an old dog new tricks and all that. All I know is that I love what I do, and that’s so important, especially later in life.

Julie Rosenberg

Hi Florence, I love this! Congrats on your writing career. Six and seven are quite impressive! And, yes, that love and passion is definitely what keeps us going as we get up there…

Bryan Fagan

Wow – Where do I start. I am 55 years old. My editor and I put the finishing touches on my first novel. There is no way I could have done this in my 20’s or maybe my 30’s. My mind was always elsewhere. My work ethic would have been poor. Plus, I had yet to experience all the things I have now.

I was raised by my grandparents . I experienced the pain of watching them die. I fell in love and married my best friend. I held a baby in my arms and learned to be a father. All of those emotions I can now write about and I did. Had I tried to do that in my younger days it would have been a guessing game. I am happy to see I am not alone in this. Hopefully there are more of us out there. Us half-century writers understand sacrifices and hard work. Your success does not surprise me.

Thank you. This hit home.

Julie Rosenberg

Thank you for the beautiful reply, Bryan. I’m so happy to hear that the piece resounded with you. And, yes, all that life brings with it — the good and the bad — is what makes us who we are. And all of that gets poured into our work, making it that much better. Congratulations to you on finishing your novel.

Stephanie L. Robertson

I was so immature in my 20s. The way I look at it, I may have 50 more years to write…And I haven’t hit the big 5-0 quite yet.

Diann

I started writing at age 68, and have since published two novels and am working on a third. It’s been lots of fun, a great creative exercise and I’ve learned so much!

Julie Rosenberg

I love hearing stories like these. Congrats to you, Diann!

Lynne Spreen

Congratulations, Julie! You were already a success, and now you’ll be even more of one.

As for the title of your post, I published my first book at 58, fiction; it won honorable mention in women’s issues in a national contest. I’ve now done two others and am about to finish the next. Then I’m going to start a silver romance series. I intend to write until they have to pry my cold, dead hands from my keyboard, and many of us silverhairs are jumping into pubbing with both feet.

In some ways, you have it easier than I did; I left corporate and began my author journey right as the traditional model was disintegrating. In 2009 I met Jane at a WD conference. I will never forget one of her presentation slides said, Don’t Be Bitter. Because we writers were. All was in flux, and it was on us to figure things out. Now it’s more settled, which is both easier and harder. Easier because there aren’t so many blind publishing/marketing alleys to waste time running down. Harder because of competition. But always, always, it’s a blessing to be able to pursue your dream. Best wishes. Lovely cover, BTW.

Julie Rosenberg

I love this so much, Lynne. You inspire me! And thank you for the kind words about the book cover! It is quite exciting to have it out in the world!

Darby Karchut

This is a great article! “It’s not your age, it’s your story…” Love that. I was 51 when I started writing – it was the perfect time for me.

Julie Rosenberg

Hi Darby, Thanks so much for reading! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it. And I can’t help but think: Whatever age you start writing is the “perfect” one. It’s never too late!

Robin E. Mason

with a brand new degree in interior design and no brand new career in interior design, i started writing four years ago at the age of 54. and tomorrow i launch my fifth book. while i sometimes wonder if i might not have had scores of books under my belt by now had i started writing earlier, i think my writing is stronger for my life experience. (not to mention the confidence i didn’t have in younger years)

Julie Rosenberg

Five books! Wow, Robin. That’s impressive. And — absolutely! Confidence is one of the great gifts of getting older.