by Anne R. Allen
A lot of people hope to write a book when they retire. And that’s a great plan. Late blooming writers can do very well for themselves if they learn to write well and have something unique to say.
Some writers who became successful authors in their later years were Laura Ingalls Wilder, who was 64 when she published Little House on the Prairie, Bram Stoker, who was 51 when Dracula came out, and Frank McCourt, who was 66 when his first book, Angela’s Ashes made it into print.
Late blooming writers have some advantages over younger people starting writing careers. For one thing, they have decades of experience to write about. And they’ve got a lot more reading under their literary belts. Presumably they’ve read a lot in their chosen genre, so they know their audience, and what that audience expects.
Well, unless they don’t…
The Trouble with Memoirs
Oh, you read mostly thrillers, but you plan to write a memoir about your abusive childhood and fight with prostate cancer? Yeah, most late blooming writers think they’ll start with a memoir.
So start reading! You can’t just sit down and write a memoir if you’ve never read one any more than you can write a mystery if you’ve never read Agatha Christie or Raymond Chandler.
When choosing what to write about, it’s good to keep in mind that memoirs are the hardest books to sell — whether you’re querying agents and traditional publishers or self-publishing.
Why? Because it takes topnotch writing skills to write a memoir other people want to read, especially one that chronicles abuse and pain. This week, on Jane Friedman’s blog, editor Hattie Fletcher says, “if you’re asking whether writing this memoir is likely to justify your time and energy, financially — well, unfortunately, that’s probably a very short response letter. It’s almost certainly not.”
However, the “misery memoir” is an accepted genre, and some of them sell very well. Look at James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces, which was a bestseller until the revelation that it wasn’t a memoir at all, but mostly fiction. Then fans were furious. They wanted a misery memoir, not a novel.
But it’s still not the best way to break into the business. If you’re not famous, nobody much cares about your life story, unless you’ve got a great hook. (Like you’re Elvis’s love child, a kid famously rescued from a well, or you invented the creamsicle.)
Late Blooming Writers Should Think Outside the Book
I have to admit you couldn’t pay me to read most memoirs. Bad ones can be tedious and cringey.
But I’ll read anything David Sedaris writes. His short memoir-like essays are brilliant and hilarious.
If the book you want to write is a memoir, you might consider writing it in bits — otherwise known as “creative nonfiction” essays. You’ll have readers gobbling them up if you write them with a punchline, like David Sedaris, or an uplifting message, like the stories in the “Chicken Soup” anthologies.
Short essays are much easier to sell than a full-length book. They can also be a sales tool if you decide to write a book later. Published essays help you gather a following and build a “platform.”
In fact, who knows — you may find those essays work well as blogposts, and your “book” should really be a blog.
Turn Your Life Experiences into Fiction
But you don’t have to write a memoir if you want to write about your life experiences. You can write those experiences as fiction. Change names and settings and you’ll probably find the characters take off and lead you to places you never expected.
Ruth Harris wrote a great post a few years ago on turning real life into fiction.
“After getting bogged down over and over because I kept thinking “it really happened” was important, it eventually dawned on me that ignoring “it really happened” was even more important.”
You just need to be careful you don’t libel anybody. So make sure your bad guy isn’t recognizable as a real person. And if you’re writing about that tall, dark, handsome stranger who totally messed up your life, make him a short gnome-y bald dude and he’ll never own up to being that guy.
Miss Ellwood was a Great Teacher — in 1971
I’ve found that a lot of late blooming writers tend to fall back on what they learned in high school when they pick up writing again. This is fine when it comes to avoiding dangling participles and overuse of adverbs.
But writing in the style of Jack Kerouac is probably not going to impress many publishing professionals in 2023. Hey, Jack Kerouac himself probably couldn’t get a nibble from an agent today. Reading habits have changed.
And now that you’re writing as a grown-up, Miss Ellwood isn’t going to be here to give you a gold star for effort, or praise you for being “honest” when you write cringey confessions and navel-gazing musings.
The truth is, you’re not a student anymore, so nobody’s being paid to encourage your fledgling scribbles. If you want anybody to read your stuff, you have to keep that reader in mind. And she’s probably not Miss Ellwood.
Nobody’s going to read your book because you (sob) spent 4 whole years writing it. Most authors spend that long on their first book. It takes a long time to learn to write narrative prose with the right pacing, tension, action, and characterization to keep a reader turning the pages.
People generally don’t want to pay you for your learning time. You need to produce a saleable product before you can make sales.
Publishing is a Business
If you’re writing for publication — whether traditional or indie — you need to be aware that publishing is a business. You can whine all you want about how “publishers are only in it for the money,” but you’ll only sound silly.
Because, well, they are. What did you think? They’re some kind of good fairies who magically reward writers with money and cars and interviews on NPR out of sheer altruistic goodness?
Publishing is a business, just like the hardware store on the corner. Publishers aren’t going to publish a book because you whine about how hard you worked on it any more than the hardware store guy is going to give you a free SKIL saw because you spent 4 years working on that piece of furniture.
“But I don’t care about making money with my book!” Sez retiree with a nice pension.
Don’t worry. You won’t make that much, even if you have a bestseller. But pretending that publishing isn’t a business isn’t going to help your writing, and it won’t get you readers.
But you are setting yourself up to be scammed.
Late Blooming Writers are Magnets for Scammers
Naiveté and quotes from Oscar Wilde about art for art’s sake may make you an adorable Grandpa, but it won’t save you from the sharks who lurk in the murky waters surrounding the publishing business, counting on people like you to fill their coffers. Read more about them in my frequent posts on Publishing Scams.
The easiest targets are people who pretend to know about the publishing business but don’t. You’re sure you know all about agents. So “agents” will call and tell you Stephen Spielberg is going to make a movie out of the book you vanity-published 15 years ago, and the minute you don’t hang up the phone, they have you on their “sucker” list forever.
Educate yourself. Follow Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware. As long as you don’t know that agents never phone out of the blue and there are no shortcuts to publication, you’re ripe for fleecing. Some countries have whole industries making piles of money off the dreams of naïve North American writers with delusions of publishing stardom.
Late Blooming Writers Need to Learn about Genres
Back in the publishing world of 30 years ago, there was such a thing as “Mainstream Fiction.” Alas, it is no more. There’s literary fiction and genre fiction, with nothing much in between.
Literary fiction writers generally need to get an MFA or spend time at a prestigious writing workshop. Genre fiction writers don’t. In fact those programs are a waste of time for most genre writers.
“But I don’t need no stinkin’ genres,” sez Mr. Boomer. “I want to write a regular novel, you know, like James Michener and John Steinbeck.”
You go ahead and write that novel, but it’s not going to make it out of the slush pile if you can’t tell people where it belongs on a shelf. If you self-publish, it will be even more difficult, because choosing the right Amazon categories can make or break a book.
For more on the Demise of Mainstream Fiction, see my blogpost on the subject.
Younger Writers, Please Help
If you’re a younger writer, I hope you’ll read this post and pass it along. The people who need to read it probably think blogs are a stupid fad. Plus they’re sure they already know everything there is to know about publishing.
But any time your Aunt Judy is all excited because she’s had a cold-call from an “agent,” or your Grandpa says he’s going to pay $10,000 to “traditionally publish” his memoir, try to help before it’s too late.
A Note for Late Blooming Writers: Tech Will Always Go Wrong
Boomers find tech daunting, so we’re eager to turn the techy part of publishing — especially self-publishing — over to pros. That’s the number one reason we get scammed.
If you take on the tech yourself, you’ll be frustrated. I live in a constant state of anxiety, wondering what the algorithms and tech elves will do to screw things up today.
That’s because those of us who didn’t grow up with tech expect it to work.
But contemporary tech only works maybe 70% of the time. It’s intrinsically unreliable and full of bugs. My Internet service goes out at least once a week, and that’s only because I switched to the “reliable” service instead of the even worse one.
If they ever de-bug a product, they will take it off the market and replace it with something ten times buggier.
Why? No reason. It’s just what they do. What we need to learn is it’s not our fault, reboot, try again, then maybe find a Gen Z assistant. 🙂
And if You Do Decide to Go “Indie”
Learn marketing. Don’t expect your fellow pickleball players or the guys at the 19th hole to buy your book (They won’t. Casual friends tend to be “Groucho Marxists.”)
Join FB groups in your genre. Work at getting guest blog posts and podcast interviews. Start a blog. Make TikTok videos. Learn hometown marketing techniques. Read some good marketing bloggers, like Rachel Thompson and Penny Sansevieri. Learn how Amazon works from Dave Chesson and David Gaughran.
You can do it. You learned to program a VCR and change the correction ribbon on an IBM Selectric, for goodness’ sake. You can do this too. Just have patience with yourself.
Whatever route you take, best of luck on that book. You finally have time to write it and once you’ve educated yourself, you’ll enjoy the process.
***
By Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) October 1, 2023
What about you, scriveners? Did you start writing after retirement? Do you plan to? What was the toughest thing for you to learn about writing? What advice do you have for late blooming writers starting on their first book?
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Ah, the IBM Selectric. An animal of a machine.
May folks’ muses be present & helpful in any artistic efforts.
CS–It was indeed a beast. So high-tech when it came out. That correction ribbon that eliminated the need for White-Out was a major innovation.
Good Sunday morning, Anne & Ruth. Not sure if your encouraging piece today is coincidental or if it’s simply the universe unfolding as it should. Yesterday, I printed off this quote for aging writers (like me) from Barbara Kingsolver which I’d like to share:
“We need to look after ourselves, for a good reason: getting old is our secret weapon. Readers come to books for many reasons, but ultimately they’re looking for wisdom. That’s something writers can offer only after they’ve accrued it, like scar tissue, usually by surviving things we didn’t want to deal with – a process otherwise known as aging. This is fantastically good news! Twenty, thirty, or forty years after all the athletes, dancers, models, and actors of our cohort have been put out to pasture, we can look forward to doing our greatest work.”
Garry–What a great quote! Thanks for sharing it. “We can look forward to doing our greatest work.”
Anne—Great post filled with great advice. Thank you! Here’s a true story definitely not safe for prime time: A writer friend make the hideous mistake of telling her bf that she was using him as the basis for a character in her new novel. He tormented her, demanding to read what she’d written about him. Unable to get him to stop and in desperation she retaliated: “If you don’t stop, I’m going to give you a small penis.” Guess what? Worked like magic.
Ruth–Great story! I think Terry McMillan actually did something like that. Even better than making him ugly. 🙂
Hah! I must have written 25,000 words on a selectric-style typewriter in the mid-80s, mostly because the pace got slow around the office in my second job. But those were just notes for my role-playing campaign.
Of course, later those notes turned out to be handy when I began writing novels, but I cannot imagine using anything other than a full-on word processor for that.
Will–I wrote my first novel on a Selectric-style machine. Years of working in offices made me love that thing. Now I’m sure my arthritic fingers couldn’t push down those keys.
This is great to hear and read, Anne. I’m an “older” author but I’ve always thought maybe…maybe I have something to say because I have so many years under my belt that might interest a reader. I have taken many online classes and continue to do so in order to keep apprised of today’s publishing world and learn more and more how to write well. And I read this blog every Sunday. It has helped me out over the years. Thank you for that.
Patricia–Educating yourself is the best way to succeed as a writer. So many people think that when they retire, they’ll just be able to sit down at a keyboard and write a book. They don’t realize how much you have to learn first. You’re doing it the right way.
Anne, you need to know I’m reading I’m Glad My Mom Died. It is a hoot.
Dianna–Now that’s a memoir I’d like to read. I’ve heard her read from it on the radio and she’s seriously funny.
On one hand, I hope I’m published before retirement age -multi-published, hopefully. On the other hand, it feels like it could take until I’m retirement age to have enough skill to be published.
In my twenties, I tried to pursue writing but the craft aspect didn’t sink in like a character needing a concrete goal and conflict. I stopped for almost ten years and started again in my thirties. I’m grasping craft a lot more and I can write a first draft. Revision and editing are what I need to tackle now.
The great thing about writing is I don’t have to worry about aging out, I can write and pursue publication as long as I desire to.
Tonya–I did that too. I tried to write a novel when I was in my 20s and it fizzled. I couldn’t plot anything to save my life. So I went into the theater and worked in bookstores. Like you, I figured I could have writing to fall back on when I got older, and that’s just what I did. I started writing again in my mid-40s and I was over 50 when I finally got my first novel published.
In the curiosity that is moi, I got serious about writing 14 years ago, which would put me in my late 40’s. When I decided to retire early in 2023, I was at the ripe old age of 55,and my plan was to speed up my process of writing and start publishing with greater frequency than every three years.
I think the hardest thing for me to learn about the writing process was that writing a readable/likable story is way harder than churning out digestible blog content.
GB–Oh, yeah! That is so true. Short essays (blog content) are much easier than sustained narrative that keeps a reader turning 300+ pages. That’s one of the reasons I suggest memoirists consider writing a blog, or publish memoir-ish essays first. It gets a following and helps you learn the craft before you jump into a full-length book.
Thanks for this post, Anne. It warms my aging heart. 😊After a long career that I loved in an intense field (software development), I find I’m working longer and loving it more in this new world of fiction writing. I hope there are a few pearls of wisdom sprinkled in my books.
Although I would never write a memoir (and I’m generally not interested in reading them), one of my favorite books of all time is “West with the Night,” by Beryl Markham.
Kay–It’s on my TBR list. One of the best writers I know put it in his top 10 great books of all time list. I say I don’t like memoirs too, but there are some that are brilliant.
That’s awesome! I wonder if there is something to not fully grasping it all while young? Many times I’ve thought if I was a good writer it would’ve been obvious young and I wouldn’t have waited so long, it would’venaturally poured out. No one has ever said I was a good writer, I never won the awards in school, I just wanted to be a good writer.
Tonya–The things that win writing awards at school aren’t necessarily what will make good novels. Show-offy prose looks great in a short story but will drive a reader bonkers in a full-length novel. What makes a successful novelist is a talent for telling a story. I think when I was younger I didn’t see enough of the “big picture” to envision a whole story with a beginning, middle and end. I could create vivid characters and describe interesting settings, but nothing ever happened.
Wow! Now you’re speaking my language! I, too, find myself in this category of “late blooming writers” and yet my first two books have been memoirs.
By the way, great shared quote from one of your readers, Garry Rodgers.
BTW, I believe Cervantes, the great Spanish author of Don Quixote, wrote his epic book when he was in his late 60s.
My latest effort turns out to be another memoir but, given your sage advice, I just may convert it to fiction. You certainly have given me much to ponder…as always. I’m grateful for that.
Ken–Yes! Cervantes had quite a life before he wrote Don Quixote. Some people argue it isn’t a novel and others say it was the first novel. But it sure had “legs” as they say in Hollywood. Still going strong after 400+ years. Pretty good for an old guy. 🙂 Your memoirs seem to have legs too. I’d love to see you tackle a novel.
In my late 40s, thanks to the encouragement I received from friends, family and publishers, I decided to take a leap and become a traditionally published author. I had tons of fun working toward that goal. I worked really hard and I’m still working to achieve it–and in three months I’ll turn 61. My writing journey brings me joy everyday. I can’t think of a better thing to have in my hand then a pen. Thank you for this advice, Anne. It was a pleasure to read.
Leanne–I’m glad you found it encouraging. Older authors have a great chance of a second career. But we need to realize it’s a long road, so we need to enjoy the journey the way you do. Sounds like you’re having a good time.
Oops, did you catch my mistake. I did. ‘than’ not ‘then’.
Leanne-That’s the kind of typo that’s invisible until you hit “enter.” 🙂
These words first come to mind that apply to young older writers.
“Your life story would not make a good book — don’t even try.”
— Fran Lebowitz
Having said that, I am 74 years old and for all intents and purposes retired. Nevertheless, I have just completed these three books and am self-publishing them by mid-October. Not print on demand editions either — I am spending around $20,000 for the first runs of the print editions.
1. “The Book or Swagger (People, Places, and Things That Have Swagger — And Some That Don’t)”
2. “The Little Book of Swagger — 637 Swagger Tips for Super Achievers”
3. “The Book Without Ego” by Anonymous
Just a note that I got inspired to publish these books by these words of a bestselling writer and blogger:
“It never made much sense to write for the market and chase trends,
but it makes even less sense now. No one really knows what the industry is going to look like when all of this is finished. No one even knows what the world is going to look six months from now, or even six weeks from now. So write that thing that you’ve always wanted to write. Write for you.”
— Nathan Bransford
Also, Austin Kleon in his great book “Steal Like an Artist” does a whole chapter with the title: “Write What You Want to Read.”
Even though my 17 previous books have sold over 1,100,000 copies, I have no idea how well my three new books will do. My book launch party for the three books is October 21. I have already decided to outdo myself next year by having a book launch for four new books. One of the four is already half finished.
Ernie–Fran is hilarious, but I wouldn’t want her for a life coach. 🙂 Nathan is a sweetie, though. He knows what he’s talking about. We shouldn’t “write to market.” But we don’t want to write to the market of 1971, either, which is what some retired people try to do.
And never ever give up. Persistence is key.
Excellent advice, Anne. I second the “turn it into fiction” advice. It’s a much easier sell than memoir. I have a friend who wrote a memoir and was looking for an editor. Most editors I know won’t touch memoir, only fiction.
Sue–I think the fiction route is best, too. And I know why editors avoid memoir. I tried to edit a few and they were disasters. Mostly people writing a chronological autobiography who had no idea what a memoir is. One was nothing but angry rants against a long-dead husband. And they won’t change a single word. Because “That’s the way it really happened.”
You are a treasure!
Will–Thanks. That’s very sweet.
Great and insightful post as always.
I wrote a lot of poetry in my younger days then life happened. At 70 I published my first book, more as a bucket list sort of thing than anything else. Went through an Indie publisher because I knew jack squat about anything. They provided the editing and the cover art. I learned a lot from the editor.
Now I’m 74 with a 4 book series under my belt, again published by a small, Indie press. Learned a lot more and still realize how much I don’t know.
Working on book 6, in a different genre. Maybe I’m playing it safe but I’m delving into sci-fi. I think one of my biggest fears is sounding dated. There’s a lot I’m ignorant about in these current times and whole lot more I don’t like.
Sci-fi lets me make stuff up and not be limited to this reality.
I can bring the wealth of years of human experience to the table. That helps no matter the genre.
Sorry about the late response, but I got delayed by a couple of short stories that wouldn’t leave me alone.
Brenda–Congrats on the six books. And having short stories that won’t let you alone is a gift from the muse any writer would envy. I’ve always published with small presses myself. I don’t feel like I’m lost in a crowd.
Anne, this is my first venture into the multiverse of blogs. I have read a few times on Kindle your marvellous intro to blogs. You exude courage to the fledglings of all ages. I can’t say I am starting after retirement as I am an ongoing researcher. Have been trying to learn the craft of fiction, and genres at that, for 40 years of aiming to convert part of my doctorate into an historical novel which folds calamitous events of the 1640s Great Lakes into the present day aboriginal and green battles raging across the world. Eternal gratitude for the bald words (never mind the penile BF references) of encouragement. Onwards… on words…and upwards…and with age we are more at home with the deep interior zones!
Richard–On Words…Onwards! Would make a great writing blog title! I’m glad you enjoyed my Author Blog book. Academics can write fiction if they let go of some of the conventions of academic writing and just tell the story. My mom had a PhD in English literature, but managed to give up her need for topic sentences (and complete sentences) to write her historical novel about her own great grandmother, Roxanna Britton. But it took some beta readers to help her let the characters tell the story. Let go of the need to be “correct” and get into the story and it will happen.
Buckets of gratitude for the reply. The science of fiction is complex and it as taken time to learn. Just read your catfish book, which my British cousin would call a real hoot. Thanks.
Richard–I’m glad my Catfish book gave you some laughs. Humor is subjective, of course, and mine tends to appeal to Brits and Canadians more than many Yanks. I guess because I grew up with a Canadian father.
I started writing a mainstream trilogy in 2000 (at 50 – and on disability ‘retirement’), published the first volume (167K) in 2015 (at 66), the second (183K) in 2022 (at 72), and am working on the third – hoping to publish soon.
When finished, the trilogy will be about as long as GWTW – and I’ve loved th eplotting AND the writing. It is where the energy allowed to me by ME/CFS went every day I could corral a brain for an hour or two.
NEVER thought it would take this long, but also never thought I would love it this much.
Don’t be afraid to start.
Alicia–Thanks for the encouraging words: “Don’t be afraid to start.” Writing is something we can do at any age, but it helps if we have something to say. Having things to say comes with experience.
I came to your blog via a link in Edwina Shaw‘s recent newsletter, and found it very interesting since I am nearly into my 80s and truly want to publish a book about my experiences of moving out of my conservative suburban home and being dumped amongst boys in a remote mining town when I had just turned 20 years old. I think it could be very interesting to young women who are likewise battling with Conservative parents, meeting boys for the first time, and the whole process of growing into an adult and away from parents. Hey, it could make a good movie as well!
But could it and would it? There in lies the big question.
I found all the comments interesting as well.