With Daylight Savings Time starting next week, it’s an extra reminder that Spring is coming. It’s a sense of new beginnings for many of us who have gone through a harsh winter. The extra sunlight is good for energizing yourself to be motivated.

If you are like me, over 50 and wondering if you can make it as a writer, let’s talk about that. Others have said this already in different ways; however, I’m going to remind us. You are not too old to write and publish a book. In fact, you are probably in the best place in your life to produce an influential book. Especially if you’ve been writing all these years here and there, trying to find the time to finish that novel. I want you to sit down, take advantage of the stimulation a new season gives you, and finish it. First, read on.

Find Your Voice

Life experience is something many young authors don’t have. You have the stories in your head to get onto the pages of a lovely memoir. Non-fiction is also a good option for people of our age. If you were in a career for many years and have advice for the younger people coming up in the same area, be a mentor or a teacher with your words of wisdom.

Those of you who are fiction writers have the best options if you are in your later fifties. Historical fiction is based on life that happened fifty years or more in the past. If you were a kid in the sixties or seventies, just think about the plethora of stories you can conjure for children to enjoy. Think about it. A book that children read and enjoy through the next century! My favorite author did just that!

Authors Published At 50 Or Older

I was one of those kids that read everything I could. My mom was a librarian as I grew up and guess where I went every day after school? I was lucky to enjoy the entire library for a few hours during the week. My favorite books were about children from the past and their lives. One of my favorite authors was Laura Ingalls Wilder. Do you know how old she was when she published her first book, Little House in The Big Woods? Sixty-five years old! And it ended up being a bestselling series for her. I had no idea until I started researching for this blog how old she was when published! And to this day, I still believe a little girl wrote those books. That is how profound her words were to me.

Other older writer debut published works are:

Frank McCourt: a memoir called Angela’s Ashes at age 66, in 1996.

Richard Adams: a children’s fiction novel, Watership Down, at age 52, in 1972.

Bonnie Garmus: a novel called Lessons in Chemistry, at age 65, in 2022.

Delia Owens: a coming-of-age novel called Where The Crawdad’s Sing, at age 73, in 2022.

There are many more out there. Don’t doubt yourself. These authors are proof that it can happen.

How Do I Start?

It depends where you are in the writing process.

You’re just starting out

It helps to be a reader of books. If you are not a reader, start reading immediately. It’s how you grow to understand what people like as books. It will inspire you to think of ideas about what you want to write.

Start with books on writing written by published authors. Grab one or two out of the library to get an idea of the process. My favorites are Stephan King’s On Writing, Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, Anne Lamott’s bird by bird, and Paula Munier’s writing with quiet hands.

These four books give you a mixture of life as a writer, a bit of technical advice, and pure enjoyment of the authors’ words. I’ve read each several times, and all of them live on my bookshelf.

Writing for years, but haven’t finished your book

If you’ve been writing for years and just haven’t found the time to finish your book, my suggestion is to put aside time every day and write until it’s finished. Concentrate on finishing before worrying about how to publish or what you need to publish. If you haven’t read the books above, please take a little time to do that, as well.

You finished your book

Then we have those who are done with their book, finished all their edits, and wonder where to go next. My question to you is, have you set up a critique partner or group? When you are done with your edits and haven’t worked with anyone before this point, it’s a good idea to have someone else read your manuscript who would have an open mind and can give you honest feedback.

Critique partners/groups are other writers who will switch manuscripts with you. They read your manuscript, and you read theirs. Expect to provide detailed feedback on characters, tone, storyline, and overall structure, to name a few.

Search to find critique groups
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What’s Next?

Take advantage of the new season and get out in the sunshine to energize yourself. Grab some motivation from nature. Spring is coming, and for many of us, flowers will pop up in glorious colors. And forget you’re over 50. It doesn’t matter as a writer.

Keep writing!

Tracy