Think you're too old to start writing? Here are the words of 90-year-old writer Babette Hughes, as reported in an interview in the Huffington Post:
"The creative richness and energy of the unconscious mind doesn't care how old we are. We are as young and as old as the characters we make up...Confessions Of An Unpublished Writer is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago -- namely, that it is the writing itself that gives us pleasure -- not publication. Which is why we write. And by writing how we get to be better writers. Getting published is the icing on the cake."
As to the secret of her longevity and enduring creativity:
"You know, life comes in a bundle. The good, the bad, the disappointing and even the tragedies are all of a piece. It's all or nothing. When we accept the whole bundle with a quality of moral nerve and a certain toughness, we choose life. When we choose life, it chooses us. In other words, accepting the lot instead of the chair and the TV makes us emotionally and spiritually better able to survive the hits that life can dish out, including old age."
I've met a lot of writers, from 12 years old to well into their 8os. What they have in common is a passion for telling stories. They understand what Babette Hughes does: "The truth about the human condition resides in fiction."
Maybe too scared, too lazy, too confused--but never too young or too old!
(Need some friendly support and guidance? My book, Your Writing Coach, takes you from the idea all the way through to publication. Published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)
