Writing a novel has never been a calling for me although I am an avid reader but I am a firm advocate of learning new skills at any age. All my life I had romanticised the idea of playing the guitar (imagining myself sitting round a campfire with people singing along to my playing) and in my late forties realised the ‘I’d love to play the guitar’ would never happen if I didn’t do something about it. Also that it was time for me to do something for myself after years of encouraging my children to try new things. Anyway I found myself a teacher and still (7 years later) have a lesson every week which I love. Only played round a campfire once but I have opened a door on a new skill!
There will be many more campfires! That was my dream too, and I have fulfilled it. My husband gave me a guitar for Christmas when I was in my 30s, which was a perfect present. Making music with friends is a wonderful thing to do. I have my daughter's quarter size pink guitar that we bought her when she was four. It can be strapped onto a pannier or thrown in a tote bag, and quietly practiced on station platforms when trains are delayed. I also bought on Ebay a cheap (£30) but good 1970s Japanese guitar that I don't mind getting bashed; it's good to have a campfire guitar that's not precious, that will withstand cold and the heat of flames. The Japanese made really good guitars in the 70s, that are cheap because people tend to want Spanish makes.
11 years ago I had life changing complications during a hysterectomy. I went from a normal 55 year old woman to a mutilated shell. Everything was played down and I wasn’t told the truth. I turned to Dr. Google and felt my life was over - I developed something called a fistula and I wear 3 stoma bags. I was in hospital 6 months and started writing a journal. A few years later, after battling PTSD and then covid, I wrote a book about my experience called Sharp Scratch and found a publisher who supported me. She did say it was the gloomiest thing she’d ever read and insisted I inject some optimism which in a way wasn’t what I wanted as sometimes awful things do happen in life. I don’t consider it to be a well written book, but I did it and no one can take that away ever. It’s my story although I used a pen name as at the time I felt almost embarrassed somehow at sharing my story, my husband said - who’d be interested? That hurt.
Congratulations on your book Phillipa I’m sure it will be fab !
Hi Deborah, I have been waiting for a hysterectomy for the last 10 months, 7 of which have been exhausting, emotional and painful. Forgive me if I don't read your book beforehand, maybe in recovery, we'll done. I too am 55 and planning to learn to crochet as well as develop a novel I've started during my recovery - fingers crossed x
Hi Lisa this is why writing the book was difficult and my husband probably had a point when he said ‘who would read it’ as it’s the last thing you’d want to read about if you were having surgery.
What happened to me was very rare plus I’d had endometriosis for years that had been badly managed - my pelvic organs were all fused. I haven’t heard of anyone else to whom this has happened most people make a great recovery with no problems. I do hope I haven’t frightened you and I hope you don’t have to wait much longer. One thing that made things much worse for me was the hospital and the deceitful road thru took. It was almost a second wounding and that’s what caused the PTSD. I’m d sad I much better now x
Thank you Deborah. I have complications including ado/endo. When this is all over I will be campaigning for womens health changes. The whole system is disgraceful x Hope all is well with you now...
I still have the fistula and have to wear two stoma bags but I’m much better thank you. Thank you also for campaigning for women’s rights - I felt worthless and invisible Lisa which took me to a very dark place psychologically,
I cant believe your hubby said that. I’m hoping he bloody read it! It’s a massive achievement and a form of processing grief for the changes in your life which is so important. I think you are amazing. Be proud of yourself, please. ♥️
When he said it I was hurt but he didn’t mean it in a nasty sort of way ( as in why would anyone be interested in you). It was more along the lines of if anyone was having surgery that’s the last book they’d want to read. Complications like mine are rare but if you are that tiny percentage to whom they happen, rare is meaningles and it’s such a lonely place to be.
It was a kind of way to process grief as the hospital essentially shut me down and if really affected my mental health.
Thank you for comment x
I need to learn about Substack as I’m a new user and not sure what I’m doing. I have hyjacked someone else’s post I think !
Wonderful post, Philippa and congratulations on your novel!
I took a career break two years ago from teaching, and told myself to do some things that I had always wanted to do. This included writing, amongst some other creative pursuits.
I am teaching again now, and although I don't write as much and for as long as I would like, I am protective about my writing time. It makes a huge difference to protect that time and in some ways, keep yourself accountable. Of course, sometimes, it falls through - things come up, or I am tired, whatever, but writing is something that I do each week, rather than rarely, which was the situation before I took the break from my job.
At 51 I graduated my Fine Art degree from CSM, it was amazing to finally engage with what I had always wanted to do - finally an art career! And yet, I’ve found it next to impossible to feel properly engaged or to find my feet, and the ‘art world’ fills me with a kind of apathy for its hierarchies etc. So I’m going back to school again to study coaching (initially) with a view to starting on a path of continued education to become a counsellor, and who knows, maybe a fully fledged therapist in time.
This path of not knowing the outcome suits my sensibilities - I find the big goal scares me off - so to decide on an unclear path feels like I’m always just around the corner from something worth finding.
I love that age has brought me to a place where I feel I can do what I didn’t earlier in life.
This was just what I needed to read, eyes brimming a little, on the train with my small child and aching to write. It feels like there’s no time, but that’s up to me really. Time to be brave enough to start
I had the opportunity to begin an art and design education at the age of 59 while I was still working, this led to a Fine Art degree (1st class ☺️) graduating at the age of 68 - it was the best thing I have ever done it was in large part thanks to a therapist who released my creativity. That was such a powerful journey that I wrote a book ‘Purple into Gold - a journey of hope and healing’. I am now 71 and just in the last stretch of a MA Fine Art. As I write this I still can’t believe it all happened! Going to uni at 59 took me right outside my comfort zone (I had been a vicar for 25+ years) but as I said the best thing I had ever done. Yes vocation a calling longing to be birthed.
Love this advice, it’s so heartfelt. I’m a huge believer in the process of failing that teaches so much, it ‘just’ takes bravery to jump in.
I’m learning to roller skate at the age of 47, purely for the fun of it and to practice lowering my expectations - I’m a devil for wanting to be ‘good’ too soon, and am purposefully taking it a session at a time with all the humility that comes with it! I’m thoroughly enjoying the process.
I just wanted to add my own tale of encouragement. I always wanted to be an artist, and with both parents practicing artists, it felt like the natural thing. I went through art at school (GCSEs, A-levels), a brilliant Foundation Course at Wimbledon School of Art, and then a slightly disappointing BA in Fine Art Painting at Winchester School of Art (I was lonely in such a small city, after growing up in London, and I wanted to paint, but this was 1996, the time of the Sensation exhibition at the RA, and everyone thought painting was very uncool!). Anyway, I graduated and I remember realising there was no way I could afford to just get a studio and paint, and I had no idea how (parents who were artists sadly meant there was no great family fortune to support me). So I got a job. It was supposed to be temporary. It was in Children’s Book Publishing (as a designer) and I accidentally ended up staying for 21 years!! Oops! But… Three years before I left, a friend of mine who was an illustrator, who had also been taking time out to earn money, had done some tutorials with a wonderful woman called Pam Smy who taught at The Cambridge School of Art on the Children’s Book Illustration MA. There is a huge emphasis on the course on Observation to Imagination, and they encourage you to draw from Observation a lot. So we started drawing together at lunch. There were a bunch of us in the design department and we chatted about illustration a lot, drew together. I became obsessed! But like the writer, I was the main breadwinner of the family (my husband works in academia and was trying to get a full time job, which is a bit like gold dust!), and we also had a small child. We rented (still do, at nearly 50!), had no family money, and we needed my salary. But I just tried not to think about it and drew and drew! I drew on the way to work, every lunch time, on the way home, every chance I got! I was so crap at first, mostly lack of confidence - and experience. But I got better and better… I did that for about two/three years. Then I discovered you could get a student loan for MAs. A seed was planted and I started to try and find an exit. I talked with my boss about going part time, but I was running a department by then, and she wasn’t keen. Then, on the day I was due to find out whether my boss would let me go part time, my husband called me, just before I was about to go in, and said he’d been offered a full time post! So I got the chance to have one of those meetings where you hand in your notice!! And so, aged 41, I handed in my notice to do the MA! And now, at 49, I completed the MA (with distinction!), and have illustrated 5 children’s books, been shortlisted for the V&A Illustration prize, and am currently working on my debut author/illustrator book! I won’t lie, it’s not been a fairytale. I earn less than half than I did in my job (although my husband now earns more), but I am x1000 more fulfilled. And I’m still growing and learning. I hope I will continue to earn more as I keep making books, I also paint a lot, as an artist, and would like to grow that side of my life too. And our son has just gone off to uni, so while lots of my contemporaries are having to take time off for maternity care, I’ve been there, done that and have more time and space for this, that I know is possible, but would have been harder, with small children.
So I just wanted to leave this comment and let anyone looking at their future and feeling there’s not time, they’re too old, in too much of a rush, etc, it is worth it, and it’s exciting, and there is time!!
Good luck with the novel. I've always written, but (aged 52) am only now taking it more seriously and trying to devote more time to it. I've actually finished a couple of short stories, which I'm proud of - and feel the opportunity to attempt a novel is approaching.
Yes! These words relate so much. Like the original poster, I wanted to write a novel. In fact 30 years ago I got half way through, and then life and fear got in the way. Children, work, money, time; I had every excuse. And getting up early - never been a core skill of mine. My work involved writing (lots), creativity (some) and deadlines (too many) and editing. All the skills, but because they were "work" and mostly real world practical they squashed my imagination. Ab excuse? Probably.
In short, I prioritised everything over what I wanted. Maybe even needed.
Thirty years passed and time opened up. Did I write? You guessed it, no. This time I found yet more excuses - a house to renovate, a volunteer role, parents to care for. You get the gist. I finally admitted, the fear of failure was too much. Writing was so big for me that if I failed I would have to re-evaluate who I really was.
And then everything changed. I started to learn new stuff. Stuff I actually never thought I'd be interested in: sewing (never liked it) - turns out I can do it and it's relaxing. That was a surprise. Singing (ambivalent about this, went along to support a friend) - learning to read the music just a little bit so as not to make a mistake was HARD but so rewarding. The same went for the piano - didn't make much headway, but enjoyed the process.
And failure was ok. Because it didn't matter to me. It wasn't who I was. But what it did was make me realise it's ok to fail and failing leads to improvement.
Which was when I had the AhHa moment.
If I just tried writing my novel, any novel, and I took away the fear of failure, then just maybe it would be ok.
And now, three months in, I'm half way through my first draft. And loving every minute of it.
Do I wish I'd done it sooner? Of course I do. But it's ok.
So, yes Phillipa, what you said. I'm glad I read this as it makes me feel my path is ok. I guess I knew that anyway, but still, it's nice to have company. Thank you.
Don't forget that it doesn't have to be a novel. As Philippa can vouch, it can be as satisfying writing about something you know about professionally, and if you want to be noticed, non-fiction books are in a smaller field than fiction. There are millions of novels, but you may produce and publish something unique. I've been a novel-writer manque all my life - I've not yet managed it - but I am immensely proud of various specialist subject guides, handbooks and training manuals I've got into print over the years. I've got huge satisfaction out of that. Why not start there? Good luck
I'm a novelist who also has worked as a MS reporter and editor and I encounter many many people who are starting to write later in life/after their careers because the dream they've hidden and denied for so long just won't leave them alone. The passion never goes away, so you might as well start now - if you wait, you'll only wish you started earlier! Love the writing for its own sake, join groups, reads loads, delight in improving, and join every writer ever who gets rejected, doubts themselves, and tries and tries again because that's just what it is to be an artist. There is no feeling like writing. And you don't need anyone's permission. Just begin. ❤️
Congratulations on your novel Philippa, I will pre-order. ☺️ It will also make an excellent present for my psychotherapist friend!
Everything about today’s post is brilliant. I remember Stephen King’s book in which he says something along the lines of ‘when inspiration strikes it needs to find you sitting at the typewriter’. I am not a lazy person but a very undisciplined one, which sometimes has the same end result. I find doing something creative at the same time every day is a real game changer. Often I don’t feel in the mood so I think I’ll just do five minutes then once I start you have to drag me away. It’s always the starting that’s hard. Good luck to the LW - I have been there too. Also maybe try reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Morning pages can be both a kick start and therapy! Can’t wait for your book Philippa. So glad I joined your Substack community.
Hard relate to the original LW. I also have a well paid career but yearn to work in a creative way instead.
I have recently bought these two books as I have a yearning to write as well. I haven't read them yet, which is worrying me. I also worry about how fast my ideas burn out so this is stopping me from starting in the first place.
I like your advice about just writing, not with the aim of a best-selling novel, just to write and get those failures out of my system.
Can’t wait to read it! It has a cat 😻
Writing a novel has never been a calling for me although I am an avid reader but I am a firm advocate of learning new skills at any age. All my life I had romanticised the idea of playing the guitar (imagining myself sitting round a campfire with people singing along to my playing) and in my late forties realised the ‘I’d love to play the guitar’ would never happen if I didn’t do something about it. Also that it was time for me to do something for myself after years of encouraging my children to try new things. Anyway I found myself a teacher and still (7 years later) have a lesson every week which I love. Only played round a campfire once but I have opened a door on a new skill!
Wonderful
There will be many more campfires! That was my dream too, and I have fulfilled it. My husband gave me a guitar for Christmas when I was in my 30s, which was a perfect present. Making music with friends is a wonderful thing to do. I have my daughter's quarter size pink guitar that we bought her when she was four. It can be strapped onto a pannier or thrown in a tote bag, and quietly practiced on station platforms when trains are delayed. I also bought on Ebay a cheap (£30) but good 1970s Japanese guitar that I don't mind getting bashed; it's good to have a campfire guitar that's not precious, that will withstand cold and the heat of flames. The Japanese made really good guitars in the 70s, that are cheap because people tend to want Spanish makes.
Love this!
11 years ago I had life changing complications during a hysterectomy. I went from a normal 55 year old woman to a mutilated shell. Everything was played down and I wasn’t told the truth. I turned to Dr. Google and felt my life was over - I developed something called a fistula and I wear 3 stoma bags. I was in hospital 6 months and started writing a journal. A few years later, after battling PTSD and then covid, I wrote a book about my experience called Sharp Scratch and found a publisher who supported me. She did say it was the gloomiest thing she’d ever read and insisted I inject some optimism which in a way wasn’t what I wanted as sometimes awful things do happen in life. I don’t consider it to be a well written book, but I did it and no one can take that away ever. It’s my story although I used a pen name as at the time I felt almost embarrassed somehow at sharing my story, my husband said - who’d be interested? That hurt.
Congratulations on your book Phillipa I’m sure it will be fab !
Here’s mine
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharp-Scratch-After-forty-surgery-ebook/dp/B0C4YVDRZ8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1FON5TG244TYP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UlSPhUhqx43f1XyXy69RZg.tKjTXDmSd7efM-WmjK3cSDiG2uULbfFk6FU9Vdp70pU&dib_tag=se&keywords=Sharp+scratch+Deborah+Jay&qid=1777195122&sprefix=sharp+scratch+deborah+jay+%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-1
Congratulations on yours and it sounds like you’ve written an interesting book about a horrible situation
Hi Deborah, I have been waiting for a hysterectomy for the last 10 months, 7 of which have been exhausting, emotional and painful. Forgive me if I don't read your book beforehand, maybe in recovery, we'll done. I too am 55 and planning to learn to crochet as well as develop a novel I've started during my recovery - fingers crossed x
Hi Lisa this is why writing the book was difficult and my husband probably had a point when he said ‘who would read it’ as it’s the last thing you’d want to read about if you were having surgery.
What happened to me was very rare plus I’d had endometriosis for years that had been badly managed - my pelvic organs were all fused. I haven’t heard of anyone else to whom this has happened most people make a great recovery with no problems. I do hope I haven’t frightened you and I hope you don’t have to wait much longer. One thing that made things much worse for me was the hospital and the deceitful road thru took. It was almost a second wounding and that’s what caused the PTSD. I’m d sad I much better now x
Wishing you all the very best Lisa.
Thank you Deborah. I have complications including ado/endo. When this is all over I will be campaigning for womens health changes. The whole system is disgraceful x Hope all is well with you now...
I still have the fistula and have to wear two stoma bags but I’m much better thank you. Thank you also for campaigning for women’s rights - I felt worthless and invisible Lisa which took me to a very dark place psychologically,
Best wishes Lisa x
I cant believe your hubby said that. I’m hoping he bloody read it! It’s a massive achievement and a form of processing grief for the changes in your life which is so important. I think you are amazing. Be proud of yourself, please. ♥️
When he said it I was hurt but he didn’t mean it in a nasty sort of way ( as in why would anyone be interested in you). It was more along the lines of if anyone was having surgery that’s the last book they’d want to read. Complications like mine are rare but if you are that tiny percentage to whom they happen, rare is meaningles and it’s such a lonely place to be.
It was a kind of way to process grief as the hospital essentially shut me down and if really affected my mental health.
Thank you for comment x
I need to learn about Substack as I’m a new user and not sure what I’m doing. I have hyjacked someone else’s post I think !
Oh gosh, Im sorry - I misunderstood. I understand what you are saying.
Best wishes to you - so glad to hear you have a supportive partner.
Please don’t apologise and thank you for your comment x
He really struggles with my bags and everything truth be told but we muddle through
Wonderful post, Philippa and congratulations on your novel!
I took a career break two years ago from teaching, and told myself to do some things that I had always wanted to do. This included writing, amongst some other creative pursuits.
I am teaching again now, and although I don't write as much and for as long as I would like, I am protective about my writing time. It makes a huge difference to protect that time and in some ways, keep yourself accountable. Of course, sometimes, it falls through - things come up, or I am tired, whatever, but writing is something that I do each week, rather than rarely, which was the situation before I took the break from my job.
At 51 I graduated my Fine Art degree from CSM, it was amazing to finally engage with what I had always wanted to do - finally an art career! And yet, I’ve found it next to impossible to feel properly engaged or to find my feet, and the ‘art world’ fills me with a kind of apathy for its hierarchies etc. So I’m going back to school again to study coaching (initially) with a view to starting on a path of continued education to become a counsellor, and who knows, maybe a fully fledged therapist in time.
This path of not knowing the outcome suits my sensibilities - I find the big goal scares me off - so to decide on an unclear path feels like I’m always just around the corner from something worth finding.
I love that age has brought me to a place where I feel I can do what I didn’t earlier in life.
This was just what I needed to read, eyes brimming a little, on the train with my small child and aching to write. It feels like there’s no time, but that’s up to me really. Time to be brave enough to start
You can do it Carys! 1 sentence at a time
I had the opportunity to begin an art and design education at the age of 59 while I was still working, this led to a Fine Art degree (1st class ☺️) graduating at the age of 68 - it was the best thing I have ever done it was in large part thanks to a therapist who released my creativity. That was such a powerful journey that I wrote a book ‘Purple into Gold - a journey of hope and healing’. I am now 71 and just in the last stretch of a MA Fine Art. As I write this I still can’t believe it all happened! Going to uni at 59 took me right outside my comfort zone (I had been a vicar for 25+ years) but as I said the best thing I had ever done. Yes vocation a calling longing to be birthed.
This is very inspiring indeed to me. I’m 50 and have embarked on a more creative path in the last few years and often wish I’d started sooner.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Love this advice, it’s so heartfelt. I’m a huge believer in the process of failing that teaches so much, it ‘just’ takes bravery to jump in.
I’m learning to roller skate at the age of 47, purely for the fun of it and to practice lowering my expectations - I’m a devil for wanting to be ‘good’ too soon, and am purposefully taking it a session at a time with all the humility that comes with it! I’m thoroughly enjoying the process.
Congratulations Philippa! I will be pre-ordering!
I just wanted to add my own tale of encouragement. I always wanted to be an artist, and with both parents practicing artists, it felt like the natural thing. I went through art at school (GCSEs, A-levels), a brilliant Foundation Course at Wimbledon School of Art, and then a slightly disappointing BA in Fine Art Painting at Winchester School of Art (I was lonely in such a small city, after growing up in London, and I wanted to paint, but this was 1996, the time of the Sensation exhibition at the RA, and everyone thought painting was very uncool!). Anyway, I graduated and I remember realising there was no way I could afford to just get a studio and paint, and I had no idea how (parents who were artists sadly meant there was no great family fortune to support me). So I got a job. It was supposed to be temporary. It was in Children’s Book Publishing (as a designer) and I accidentally ended up staying for 21 years!! Oops! But… Three years before I left, a friend of mine who was an illustrator, who had also been taking time out to earn money, had done some tutorials with a wonderful woman called Pam Smy who taught at The Cambridge School of Art on the Children’s Book Illustration MA. There is a huge emphasis on the course on Observation to Imagination, and they encourage you to draw from Observation a lot. So we started drawing together at lunch. There were a bunch of us in the design department and we chatted about illustration a lot, drew together. I became obsessed! But like the writer, I was the main breadwinner of the family (my husband works in academia and was trying to get a full time job, which is a bit like gold dust!), and we also had a small child. We rented (still do, at nearly 50!), had no family money, and we needed my salary. But I just tried not to think about it and drew and drew! I drew on the way to work, every lunch time, on the way home, every chance I got! I was so crap at first, mostly lack of confidence - and experience. But I got better and better… I did that for about two/three years. Then I discovered you could get a student loan for MAs. A seed was planted and I started to try and find an exit. I talked with my boss about going part time, but I was running a department by then, and she wasn’t keen. Then, on the day I was due to find out whether my boss would let me go part time, my husband called me, just before I was about to go in, and said he’d been offered a full time post! So I got the chance to have one of those meetings where you hand in your notice!! And so, aged 41, I handed in my notice to do the MA! And now, at 49, I completed the MA (with distinction!), and have illustrated 5 children’s books, been shortlisted for the V&A Illustration prize, and am currently working on my debut author/illustrator book! I won’t lie, it’s not been a fairytale. I earn less than half than I did in my job (although my husband now earns more), but I am x1000 more fulfilled. And I’m still growing and learning. I hope I will continue to earn more as I keep making books, I also paint a lot, as an artist, and would like to grow that side of my life too. And our son has just gone off to uni, so while lots of my contemporaries are having to take time off for maternity care, I’ve been there, done that and have more time and space for this, that I know is possible, but would have been harder, with small children.
So I just wanted to leave this comment and let anyone looking at their future and feeling there’s not time, they’re too old, in too much of a rush, etc, it is worth it, and it’s exciting, and there is time!!
P.S. I also teach as an Associate Lecturer on the MA now! Full circle!
Be lovely if you extended your tour to the West Country - Bristol/Bath or Frome??
Good luck with the novel. I've always written, but (aged 52) am only now taking it more seriously and trying to devote more time to it. I've actually finished a couple of short stories, which I'm proud of - and feel the opportunity to attempt a novel is approaching.
Yes! These words relate so much. Like the original poster, I wanted to write a novel. In fact 30 years ago I got half way through, and then life and fear got in the way. Children, work, money, time; I had every excuse. And getting up early - never been a core skill of mine. My work involved writing (lots), creativity (some) and deadlines (too many) and editing. All the skills, but because they were "work" and mostly real world practical they squashed my imagination. Ab excuse? Probably.
In short, I prioritised everything over what I wanted. Maybe even needed.
Thirty years passed and time opened up. Did I write? You guessed it, no. This time I found yet more excuses - a house to renovate, a volunteer role, parents to care for. You get the gist. I finally admitted, the fear of failure was too much. Writing was so big for me that if I failed I would have to re-evaluate who I really was.
And then everything changed. I started to learn new stuff. Stuff I actually never thought I'd be interested in: sewing (never liked it) - turns out I can do it and it's relaxing. That was a surprise. Singing (ambivalent about this, went along to support a friend) - learning to read the music just a little bit so as not to make a mistake was HARD but so rewarding. The same went for the piano - didn't make much headway, but enjoyed the process.
And failure was ok. Because it didn't matter to me. It wasn't who I was. But what it did was make me realise it's ok to fail and failing leads to improvement.
Which was when I had the AhHa moment.
If I just tried writing my novel, any novel, and I took away the fear of failure, then just maybe it would be ok.
And now, three months in, I'm half way through my first draft. And loving every minute of it.
Do I wish I'd done it sooner? Of course I do. But it's ok.
So, yes Phillipa, what you said. I'm glad I read this as it makes me feel my path is ok. I guess I knew that anyway, but still, it's nice to have company. Thank you.
Don't forget that it doesn't have to be a novel. As Philippa can vouch, it can be as satisfying writing about something you know about professionally, and if you want to be noticed, non-fiction books are in a smaller field than fiction. There are millions of novels, but you may produce and publish something unique. I've been a novel-writer manque all my life - I've not yet managed it - but I am immensely proud of various specialist subject guides, handbooks and training manuals I've got into print over the years. I've got huge satisfaction out of that. Why not start there? Good luck
I'm a novelist who also has worked as a MS reporter and editor and I encounter many many people who are starting to write later in life/after their careers because the dream they've hidden and denied for so long just won't leave them alone. The passion never goes away, so you might as well start now - if you wait, you'll only wish you started earlier! Love the writing for its own sake, join groups, reads loads, delight in improving, and join every writer ever who gets rejected, doubts themselves, and tries and tries again because that's just what it is to be an artist. There is no feeling like writing. And you don't need anyone's permission. Just begin. ❤️
Congratulations on your novel Philippa, I will pre-order. ☺️ It will also make an excellent present for my psychotherapist friend!
Everything about today’s post is brilliant. I remember Stephen King’s book in which he says something along the lines of ‘when inspiration strikes it needs to find you sitting at the typewriter’. I am not a lazy person but a very undisciplined one, which sometimes has the same end result. I find doing something creative at the same time every day is a real game changer. Often I don’t feel in the mood so I think I’ll just do five minutes then once I start you have to drag me away. It’s always the starting that’s hard. Good luck to the LW - I have been there too. Also maybe try reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Morning pages can be both a kick start and therapy! Can’t wait for your book Philippa. So glad I joined your Substack community.
Hard relate to the original LW. I also have a well paid career but yearn to work in a creative way instead.
I have recently bought these two books as I have a yearning to write as well. I haven't read them yet, which is worrying me. I also worry about how fast my ideas burn out so this is stopping me from starting in the first place.
I like your advice about just writing, not with the aim of a best-selling novel, just to write and get those failures out of my system.
https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/on-writing-a-memoir-of-the-craft-twentieth-anniversary-edition-with-contributions-from-joe-hill-and-owen-king-stephen-king/3771290?ean=9781444723250
https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-long-game-how-to-write-fiction-elizabeth-mccracken/7853742?ean=9781787336025
I love Stephen King's book, especially how matter-of-fact he is about the work - I read it every few years.