Is there a maximum or minimum age for writing ?
By jamie622
@jamie622 (508)
India
April 21, 2007 1:56am CST
Do you think there is any maximum or minimum age for writing . Can a child or 12 or an old fellow write well . Do you think writing has anything to do with age if the vocabulary of person is strong enough ? Is there a particular ae when the persn matures as a writer ?
1 person likes this
11 responses
@brightsea (141)
• India
21 Apr 07
well christopher Pauloni (spelling??) the writer of eragon was a teenager around 18 or 19 when his book was published and released so he must have started writing that book at 15 or 16. I think if the writing agency and the publisher likes your book it can be published at any year you are. and if the person has a real flair for languages writing won't be a problem and the more you write the m,ore confidence you gain and the better your worek is.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
21 Apr 07
I started writing short stories when I was ten.
They were pretty good..though I consider my writing now the best it'll ever be. And I am not even close to being an adult yet. I've a few years yet.
No, I don't think one can estimate when kids overall can be good writers. Anyone of pretty much any age can write an awesome novel..I know a brilliant supernatural-fiction writer who started when she was thirteen-fourteen!
After all..childre protegies? In college before their teens? They're becoming ever-more larger in numbers these days. Alot more than a few centuries ago. I dislike categorizing people according to age.
I was ALWAYS more mature than my age. When I was nine I answered the phone they thought I was my own mother (in her thirties then) because of the manner I spoke -- like an adult! So..
2 people like this
@edherbs135 (6)
• Australia
21 Apr 07
I think the only problem with young writers is that no-one takes them seriously.
Other than this most people who can write well can be wuite young.
I know that when I started writing when I was 12 I used to say that was how old I was.
Now I am 16 but when I am writing I just pretend to be older and people actually read my writing and many have said that it is good.
Whereas if I had said my real age I think they would have shrugged it off without even thinking about it.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
21 Apr 07
I think really, you can't say young writers are necessarily lacking in grammar and style and vocabulary. Many learn those things so quickly that age is not an issue.
The only thing I can really think of where age would have a significant impact, is on life experiences. It's hard to write from life experience if you haven't had as much of it.
3 people like this
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
22 Apr 07
But even then age is not an accurate measure of life experiences. I've experiences enough for nearly three lifetimes..ask some folks who know me.
But because I'm young..people do ignore me. Much of my work is not even given the time of day because I'm a teenager..and my family has been going through a hard time. And my work..could concieveably save us so much trouble..possibly keep us out of our troubles now for the rest of our lives. But people don't care 'cause I'm young.
AND because I look my own age, because I look sweet and innocent -- and BECAUSE people think age is the only way to measure someone, people have thought I was easy prey before.
And here I am, no scars to show for those experiences. Some of which I have had to fight to stay alive for..and I'm fine. They're not.
Some kids just grow up fast, regardless age. Sometimes life happens to them so much they are practically adults so young. But people..people dislike thinking outside the box they taught was the only way to think -- inside the box they didn't even design. It makes people more comfortable.
But I don't think that's right.
1 person likes this
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
21 Apr 07
I don't think the age is the same for everyone. I was watching a show on very talented kids, and one girl wrote a book at age 7 and now that she's 8 she goes around giving talks about writing (I think it was called "Flying Fingers").
A lot of kids write books at young ages, but few write one that looks more like an adult wrote it.
2 people like this
@ydiwan (448)
• India
22 Apr 07
There is no age for writing and there cannot be cos writing is imagination and how u interpret a situation according to your understanding and this can happen to any age a child can also have more intellectual knowledge then an adult and can interpret much better then an adult can and same way an adult can start writing at the age of 60 so it can variate from person to person so writing can be done at any age.
@munhozmib (3836)
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
22 Apr 07
Well, for me, the best age to write is when you are around 10. Okay, you don't know vocabulary, but the idea flows freely. Me, for example: I earned a prize as the best writting of my age. I might make some grammatic mistakes at English, but this is because I'm from Brazil.
I have 14 years, almost 15, and I consider myself very good at writting. All the teachers said congratulations for my writting. You know, I have an open minded. Ideas come and go when I need them.
There's no maximum or minimum age. When you're older, you caa still write good, since you now have more experience about life.
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18345)
• Orangeville, Ontario
23 Apr 07
When submitting work to an agent or publishing company, it is not required to reveal your age. This goes for any job. Your work should speak for itself. If you started reading young and became a voracious reader, you will have the proper grammar and intellect to write. You do not need life experience to write certain stories. You are not going to find a 12 year old writing love stories, but you may find them writing children's stories, youth, or fantasies.
As for maximum, you are never too old to start writing. Obviously you don't have to have all your physical abilities in tact to write. It is one of the things you can do until you die. Some famous writers did not start until very late in life.
@jamie622 (508)
• India
25 Apr 07
I agree with you completely . there is no age for writing .
Its the passion for writing that counts nad that should really count . If you have had enough to sink in , it can come out too and age has rarely anything to do with it .
Cultivating the interest in writing is really what counts more .
@AnythngArt (3302)
• United States
21 Apr 07
I think you can be any age to write; however, as has already been stated here, if you are writing about life experiences, few young people have enough material to work with. However, for the fantasy realm, they'd no doubt be perfect. One caveat you must watch for with young writers is copying the work of others. I think very young people have a harder time making a distinction about plaigairism. Just as with art, the mind is very open at a younger age; it's the skills that usually need to be developed.
1 person likes this
@Transformed (1259)
• United States
22 Apr 07
No. If someone is qualified enough and has the knowledge and passion for a particular topic or group of topics, then anyone is eligible to write. Now writing for publication is a different issue. Most publishing companies don't like to take work from people younger than 18 because it is perceived they do not have enough real-world experience or enough of a writer's voice, but I think even a six or seven year old can write "stuff". How good it is is another issue.
@lacurandera (335)
• United States
25 Apr 07
I don't really think there are "age limits," but an 80 year old has more stories and life experience than a 12 year old. I started writing when I was 10, but my work didn't really hold its own until I was about 21. I just didn't have the experience i needed to be writing interesting stuff when I was 10 (I write non fiction and poetry, so I needed to live a little before I wrote good stuff.) I know I'd rather read an older writer if they wrote non fiction. They have more to say. As for fiction, I don't think it matters, and a younger person might even be better at it than an older writer.
