Can I Become an Author at My Age?
by Diane Vogel Ferri, from February 2020
“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave it neither time nor power.” Mary Oliver
You have always wanted to write a book. You thought that would be a great accomplishment in life, but you had children, a job, obligations. Suddenly the kids grew up but then maybe you were caring for your elderly parents, and now—now you have some time. Is that desire still there? Do you have something to say?
It is my belief that older people are not revered in American society. We have valued youth and beauty too much. It is only in the 21st century that Hollywood has decided that older women can have roles in movies! But we have had life experiences, we have done the hard work, we have figured so much of it out. We have strong opinions based on those life experiences.
Countries such as Japan have longer life expectancies and less dementia. This is often attributed to their respect and positive treatment of the elderly. Korea celebrates the 60th and 70th birthdays with large feasts. China has an “elderly rights law” mandating that children attend to their parents in old age. Native Americans look to their aging for wisdom. In India, the elderly are considered the head of the family.
On the wall of my writing room—a room of my own being something I earned in later years as well—is an essay I wrote when I was 10 years old. My mother saved it for me. It is about my desire to write a book someday. I remember my mom telling me that I hadn’t lived long enough to have something to write about. Well, I do now. In my 30s my life took a dramatic and chaotic turn. I began filling notebooks with poetry although I had never read or studied poetry and it was like a savior to me. Now I have two poetry books and many poems published in journals.
Walking through the world as an older woman I often feel invisible, as if I am nothing to look at, with nothing important to share. But women who have fulfilled their caregiving duties have the most understanding of life. Every woman has experiences that are unique to being female. In these later years I have been a part of many poetry readings. It is so fulfilling to stand in front of a microphone and read my poems. I have people’s attention. I am heard and seen, and I have so much to say. I watched my own mother blossom into a prolific artist in her 50s then continue to create into her 80s. Her example leads me, and I constantly remind my own daughter that a woman reinvents herself throughout her life. There is nothing that cannot be accomplished in the future, even if it is not possible now.
Creativity is an important piece of our identities. We may not need to make money from it or become famous, but we need it to stay vital, to maintain who we are in this world. I have been retired for six years but I still get a thrill out of waking up in the morning and knowing I have nothing I need to do that day but walk back to my writing space and write my heart out. Stephen King once said, “If God gives you something to do, why in God’s name wouldn’t you do it?” Yes.
There are many wonderful online and print publications like Yellow Arrow Journal that are looking for your wisdom, although the submission process can sometimes be arduous and discouraging. The best advice I heard at a craft talk was to aim for 100 rejections a year. That sounds awful, but it means you are submitting a great deal of work. Obviously, the odds of getting something published are much better the more you submit. I’ve had about a dozen essays published in recent years.
I am now 65 and my third novel has just been published by a local company. The first book not to be self-published! I was recently interviewed and a substantial article about my book was published online and in the local newspaper. An unexpected gift. So, it’s never too late.
Diane Vogel Ferri is a teacher, poet, and writer living in Solon, Ohio. Her essays have been published in Scene Magazine, Cleveland Stories, Yellow Arrow Journal, and Good Works Review, among others. Her poems can be found in numerous journals such as Plainsongs, Rubbertop Review, and Poet Lore. Her previous publications are Liquid Rubies (poetry), The Volume of Our Incongruity (poetry), The Desire Path (novel), and her newest novel, No Life But This: A Novel of Emily Warren Roebling.
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