One of my greatest fears has always been that if my author friends and readers and others knew my age, they'd judge me and my writing by it. I've never wanted someone to look at my book, wrinkle their nose, and say: "Oh, she's only a teenager. It can't be any good." My worst nightmare is to be thought of as some silly teenage girl that doesn't know what she's talking about.
But at my last writer's conference, some of my greatest author friends found out my secret - thanks to Michaelbrent Collings, who just happened to ask me my age during a podcast. ;) But everyone was so gracious and wonderful about it ... that I wondered if, just maybe, there was a place for me in the writing world after all. :) So with hope from that, here it is:
At midnight, I'll be seventeen years old.
Please breathe and remember that, before you read this, you thought I was a pretty cool person. ;)
I'm still that crazy girl you know who blogs about spirituality. I'm still a self-published author. But now you know something else, and I hope it doesn't change things.
I love you guys!
Happy Holidays. <3
And here's a huge thank you to everyone who's stood by me in this crazy world. :) It means more than you know.
Bonnie Gwyn
It's just past midnight, so... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! And, no, the revelation about your age has not made me respect or admire you any less. You rock!
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about being "too young" is that it cures itself, whether you want it to or not, whereas "too old" is pretty much permanent. ;-) But in the writing world age is pretty much irrelevant. It's not how old you are, but how old you write. Command of the English language is not a function of age, but of persistence. The only real liability I could see in being a young writer is lack of experience, but even that can be overcome with a well-trained imagination, curiosity, and/or a gift for observation.
ReplyDeleteThough I'd never met you before last LTUE, even before Michaelbrent "outed you" I could tell you were at least of an age where some of his humor might be "pushing it." But your attitude about and questions in the podcasts revealed you as someone serious about writing and who had given it considerable thought. Most writers I've met are pretty open-minded and supportive, so I'm not surprised we accepted you.
We all have to go through the same journey to be writers, and we tend to recognize and respect our fellow travelers. It's just as difficult to write 100,000 words as an adult as it is as a teenager. It's just as difficult to get a draft polished up and ready for publication. It still takes time to develop your craft and find a readership. The only difference between you and older writers is that you started "paying your dues" earlier in life, and therefore you're much farther ahead of the game. If anything I envy you.
Yes, there probably will be some who will judge your work differently knowing your age. But there are a myriad of reasons why people will judge someone's work. Self-publishing brings its own set of judgments. Being a male writer of romance novels invites judgment (one of the most successful romance writers of all time recently outed himself after using a female pen name for years). There will always be reasons why people will not want to read a writer's books, not the least of which is the cover, which is often out of an author's control. All a writer can really control is their writing, and good writing will win out in the end.
Happy birthday! Keep fighting the good fights!