The Golden Years of Writing…

…Or perhaps the title should be Writing in the Golden Years. After reading this article, please tell me which title you think better fits this post.

In the past I have mentioned that the golden years are more often fool's gold than a precious and coveted ore. While both can function as standalones, they frequently appear as a mix of the two — good days and bad days. Since we have been featuring lists in our recent posts, let's list a few ways silver-haired writers have changed (or not) in their golden years.

1. Inspiration: As younger writers, we often overflowed with a plethora of story ideas. Sometimes, however, life got so busy we couldn't sit down at the typewriter (or word processor or computer) or pick up pen and paper to jot down those wonderful thoughts. Busyness often dictated our schedules, pulling us back to reality. Children have the unique ability to distract even the most focused of parents. Jobs demand a huge chunk of our waking hours. Domestic chores create never-ending repetitions: laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and the list goes on.

Then the children are grown. Grandchildren come to visit, but, sometimes thankfully, they go home and leave us to renew our creative endeavors. Remembering that numerous story ideas vied for expression when we were younger, we may struggle to find even one now that piques our interest or starts our creative juices flowing. Those we do remember may not draw us in as once they did. I've recently completed rewrites of my first two novels. While still liking the story lines, I felt the need to let the characters mature, expand their horizons, become more three-dimensional, appeal to a wider audience. Why? Perspective changed. Now comes the fun: several stories were begun but never finished. They're next on the agenda. Do you have incomplete novels that call out to you?

2. Perspective: Do you remember the song "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell? The assertions in the lyrics also fit authors. As young writers, we often see life a certain way, which may be reflected in our characters and story lines. Our passions, political views, social consciousness, and many more subtle qualities frequently express themselves in the tales we tell. As we mature, our perspectives change. We see life — and our characters — differently. Is this a good thing? In my opinion, it can be. Check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbn6a0AFfnM

Just as we may mellow with age, our perspectives may also mellow. We don't necessarily change what we believe, but those beliefs mature, ripen, perhaps become more accepting of other views, or perhaps are solidified by what is happening today. Did we participate — mentally, emotionally, or literally — in the marches during the Vietnam War? Did we fantasize about living in a commune, sharing the work and the fun of such close community living? Did we sympathize with the students participating in the Kent State peace rally in 1970, where four unarmed young people were killed by the National Guard? That was the first such incident in which students in the U.S. died while participating in a peaceful anti-war protest. Appalling as it was then, similar incidents today are so commonplace we almost seem to take them for granted as a normal part of living at this time. How has this affected us as writers? Did the mentality of the sixties and seventies color our writing? Do our stories and our characters reflect the horror of this sad loss of life then and now? Or do we write about times farther removed from the present, when such unacceptable occurrences rarely happened? Do you incorporate the stark reality of today's world in your stories? Or do you take your readers on a journey to a place where they can find reasons to hope for something better? Do you, through your characters, show them a way to resolve or contend with difficulties so many of us face?

3. Physical realities: It has been said that aging is not for the faint of heart. This is true, and I speak from experience. The body that, hopefully, served us well during our younger years, may now insist on regular maintenance and care. Muscles, bones, joints, even skin let their presence and needs be known. No longer silent partners in our well-oiled human machine, they stab us with various ailments and many pains, sometimes severe enough to distract us from our chosen profession — writing. Mental acuity may wane, especially when we're trying to recall a name or the details of an incident or where we put our car keys. We're tired, and it's a different kind of tired than we experienced in our earlier years. While we used to write well into the night, we now need an afternoon nap to get past the supper hour. Writing after dinner is relegated to the past, with an occasional rare exception.

Despite the above realities, we bring to our hard drive (or whatever method we use to preserve our words) a different kind of story, one more rounded, more inciteful, more thought-provoking, more real to our readers. We subtly share the wisdom of years, wisdom we could not share when we were young because we had yet to learn it. We share passions and joys and sorrows that mean so much more to us as we grow older. We give our characters the value of the wisdom we have acquired over the years and thus share it with our readers. The Vineyard, a novel by Barbara Delinsky, includes two strong characters in their eighties. It's worth a read. How do you share the gifts growing older bring to you?

We may view things differently today than we did in the past, but we still have much we can share with a reading audience. Once we may have put "pen to paper" to make a living. Now, we may write to share something: hope, joy, understanding, acceptance, insight, sorrow, or a host of other reasons. Who else can share life's lessons learned or a bright new future for upcoming generations from our perspective? People are struggling as never before during our lifetimes. Reaching out to touch their troubled hearts by sharing our stories brings them gifts they may not find elsewhere. In our golden years, we still have something of value to offer our readers.

Linda Lane is currently updating two previously written novels and is laying the foundation for her new cozy mystery series with a twist, the first book of which should be out in late 2021 or early 2022. She also has a number of partially finished novels that are scheduled to make their debuts in 2022 and 2023. Although still doing some fiction editing, she now focuses primarily on writing and on encouraging beginning writers to hone their skills and read, read, read. You can contact her through her writing website, LSLaneBooks.com.