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Too Young to be a Writer
by Angela Giles Klocke and Scott D. Warren

Have you ever found yourself wondering if you're wasting your time writing? This feeling probably always comes after someone has told you you should be doing other things - am I right?

Many writers often quit writing because someone encouraged them to find something better to do, like get a real job. How terrible to lose such potential talent all because writing isn't understood by everyone. Imagine if Judy Blume or JK Rowling quit just because someone they knew thought they should be doing something else. What a loss for the reading world.

Believe it or not, every writer has at least one person in their life that does not agree with their career of choice. Some view writing in the same light as wasting time, and too often, many writing careers are halted before they even begin.

So what do you do when someone tells you that you are too young to be a writer?

She Says - Age 26:

I'm not sure exactly how old I was when I began writing, but I do recall the fifth grade (age 10) quite well. A friend and I often co-wrote mysteries while riding home on the school bus. Sometimes we would take our turn home and return with it the next day. It was plenty of fun, but I found I took my writing more and more serious, whereas my friend just thought it was fun to make things up - and that's great, too!

By the sixth grade, we had a new English teacher in our school. No one liked her; they all thought she was quite rude. But I secretly adored her. I couldn't tell anyone this, but I did. You see, she liked my writing. More than that, though, she thought I should keep writing. Her compliments were more than the usual "nice job." She showed me my strengths and weaknesses. She made me want to write. But my friends thought the most important things at that time were music and boys, and adults all thought I should start thinking of more career-type choices, because writing was just not cool to either group.

I wrote on and off from then on out, often hiding what I was doing under more important-looking work. I didn't rush to show my writings to anyone, as no one shared my enthusiasm. Writing, to them, was just a silly little hobby; no one took it seriously, except the much disliked English teacher. Never once did she tell me that I was too young to be a writer. And I still write today, no matter that I kept running into people through the years who tried to get me to do something else.

I can't even imagine if I had let one person persuade me to quit due to being young. You're never too young to shoot for the stars.

He Says - Age 11:

In my experience, I have been told many times to just stop what I'm doing and play sports. I've been told that I'm too young to write stories, and some people have even told me to give up on writing my novel because they say I'm never going to be finished. But think about this: Gordon Korman wrote about three books when he was just twelve years old. One of them was nominated for an award. That is what you can tell people when they say that you're too young. Tell that little story of Gordon Korman. Don't let people be the boss of what you want to do. If you have the talent, go with it! Remember this saying. "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." -Les Brown

Being young is to your advantage. Never let anyone tell you your age is not right for anything you want to do, especially for being a creative and fantastic writer. And by writing now, when your mind is less occupied by the stresses life can bring as you get older, your work will be much more exciting. Too young to write? Never.

Next Time: Are you a writer if you've never been published?

Copyright © 2001 Angela Giles Klocke and Scott D. Warren

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