Older Authors vs. Younger Authors

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Title:	Older Authors vs. Younger Authors
Creator:	SL Watson (Stephanie Watson)
Date(s):	March 13, 2003
Medium:	online
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External Links:	Older Authors vs. Younger Authors
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Older Authors vs. Younger Authors is an essay posted to "The Journey" by SL Watson on March 13, 2003.

"The Journey" was the name of the author's regular column at Fanfiction.net. The column may have had the subtitle "From the Roadside."

Fanfiction.net's users tend to be quite young, so Watson was addressing this demographic reality.

Excerpts

The constant battle of the ages has been raging on forever. Let's face it, it doesn't show any sign of ever changing -- older people don't think younger people know what they're doing, younger people don't think older people are current with the modern times. It's everywhere -- between teachers and students, parents and children, employers and employees...

And authors.

Now, before I go into the whole versus thing, I'm going to try my best to define which is which, at least as far as my own experiences allow. You good folks can follow along.

What separates an older author and a younger author isn't age. It isn't even necessarily life experience, though life experience does come into play. It isn't talent, it isn't ability.

It's the shift.

What's the shift, you say? Well, even though it can be going from third to fourth gear on a clear day, a perfect road bleached white, and the hum of the tires...

Sorry. Anyway, the shift is the only way I can describe what happens when a younger author becomes an older author. One day, you realize that you've changed. That your writing is different than it was. One day, you look back on your older stuff and smile, shake your head, and say, "I really wrote that? Geez, I must have been out of my mind." One day, you start realizing that you appreciate constructive criticism more than nice reviews. One day, you realize that your writing has nothing to do with publishing or posting; it's about telling a story.

That's only part of the shift, and it's different for everyone. You'll know it when it happens, and you'll understand if it already has.

It's the shift that separates younger authors from older authors.

Now, let's start off the versus.

You're the older author. Guess what, you're in the minority. You've been at this longer than they have. This is a valuable tool; assuming you have experience to equal or exceed your years, you're able to offer insights into life that younger writers often can't.

Now climb down off of your high horse. You're not the judge, jury and executioner of the younger writers. Just because you've been writing longer doesn't mean even for a second that you have any right to tell these kids that they don't know how to write, don't know what they're doing, don't know anything. Just because they're new to this, it doesn't make them any less valuable.

Before you decide to get out the flame-thrower, let me narrow my targeting range...

The older authors I'm referring to are the ones who, either because they're arrogant or just because they're badly in need of a reality check, use their age as a battering ram. You know, the ones who say, "I'm twenty-six (seven, eight, whatever), and I think you need to quit writing and grow up" or "I just don't see this happening, and since I'm older than you, obviously I'm right and you're wrong."

Bull.

[advice for older authors]: Age is not a weapon -- it's a tool. You offer a unique look; you're the minority, and you need to remember that. It doesn't make you a martyr, it doesn't make you any better than them, but it does offer you a chance to give people what they honestly crave more than 'cool story, plz cont.'... you can give them a real, mature opinion. Sometimes they'll reciprocate in kind, sometimes they won't. But that doesn't mean you can just quit and start slugging it out on the issue of age.

Now, let's look at the other side of the fence. You're the younger author. You have something wonderful in your grasp, too... you have the ability to write without preconceived notions. You can (hopefully) write without that filter of bitterness that sometimes gets us older folks and taints our views.

You can still dream wild, colorful dreams and post them without worrying whether someone'll lock you away for it. There's something amazing about reading the world of someone young -- at times, it approaches art.

Now climb down off of your high horse. Just because you have new, fascinating ideas doesn't mean that you have any right to disregard the advice given by someone who's been writing longer. Let's face it -- they have been doing this and have learned their lessons. They can offer you honest feedback from a mature viewpoint, and when you get all huffy about it, that's screaming, "I'm just a child!". You don't have to fly on the defensive with the 'I'll do it my way and I don't care what you have to say, so nya!' approach in order to maintain your youth.

Your responsibility is the same as any author of any age, in any genre, published or not: To be the best author you can be. That means not hiding behind age as an excuse not to spell-check, nor does it mean that just because this isn't going into a book, you have any right to forget rules of grammar. Rebel all you like; when it comes down to it, though, you're an author, and that means you better damn well be an author.

So, before you decide to jump on the defensive about every single piece of criticism, remember this:

You will be the older author someday.

Offering your ideas, perspectives and viewpoints is far better than screaming because you're supposedly being 'treated like a child'.

[advice to younger authors]: Age is not a weapon -- it's a tool. You have in your grasp the ability to share new ideas with the world. This doesn't make you brilliant, it doesn't make you the next Shakespeare, but it does give you a chance to use your voice and speak up in a world that doesn't always encourage that. The rest is up to you. Take your youth; use it, love it, dream every dream you possibly can, and give it to the rest of us, because it's your job to remind us that dreams still exist.

Above all, remember this: You're still learning too. You're still on your journey. If someone can offer you help, don't be afraid to take it, graciously, because someday you'll be the one who has the responsibility to help. Maybe, in some ways, you already are.

Age doesn't make for maturity. In fact, I know one author who was in her forties and couldn't even begin to grasp characterization; instead, she spouted off about how good and knowledgeable she was because she was older and had lived longer, when in all reality, she was just a little girl who didn't like it when someone told her she might not be right. On the other hand, I've spoken to people at age twelve who, because they were wise enough to look at the world and see it, and to listen and offer ideas, were more mature than a lot of folks I know in the real world.

Once again, it comes back to the shift. If you hit the shift at fifteen, you're an older author. If you don't hit it by twenty-six, you're still a younger author. If you use age as a battering ram, you need to rethink just which side of the shift you're on. If you're a younger author and someone uses age against you, don't get defensive... just ignore them. They aren't worth it.