I would like to share my own experience, since at least a few people want to know what writing when you're younger VS older is like. Remember this is just me and should not be taken as anything other than the facts of my life:
I began my my first novel when I was 15 for NaNoWrimo. I finished editing when I was 16, then let it stay on my computer for two years. Now 18 years old, I reread it and realized what cliched, cobbled together nonsense it was. I spent another year COMPLETELY rewriting and editing it. Finally proud of the story I had told, I sent it to a publisher, but it was rejected. This is very common and shouldn't discourage anyone in the slightest, but at that time that was the only publisher I wanted to go with so I again I just forgot about and worked on other stories.
Today I am 22 years old and can't even read more than a few pages of the teenage angst I dared to sent into that publisher years ago. I'm very happy that it did not get published in the state it was in then.
To sum up my story, I would like to say that no one is too young to write a novel. But you must keep in mind that your writing is only going to keep getting better the more you keep doing it. Write, write, and keep writing. As you mature, your writing will mature and by the time you get to be my age you might finally have a story or two that's worth a damn. Good luck everyone!
I know it throws everyone's writing in the trash
but I am the definition of being too young
and I still write
A CHALLENGER HAS APPEARED
not telling
that is private information and as far as you're going to get
Sorry I didn't mean to pry i'm in seventh and getting so much homework on the fourth day like woah
@PastelWriter's post has encouraged me to share my own writing journey. :) Again, a disclaimer that this is what's happened to me and will not be the same for every young writer.
I have been writing fiction and worldbuilding since I could spell 'once upon a time'. When I was fourteen I started a fantasy novel, which over many drafts was mostly finished by the time I was eighteen. My family encouraged me to try to get published, so I sent the manuscript to as many Australian publishers as possible. (I wasn't good at keeping track of which publishers in the early days, but it's probably close to 10 places.) People kept encouraging me that JK Rowling had to send her work to 27 publishers before it was accepted (a quick Google search tells me that number is actually 12, but anyway) so I was 'halfway there', but I couldn't find any more places whose publishing guidelines fit my work, so I kind of gave up.
Fast forward a few years. I'm still writing and worldbuilding, but when I look over that old novel, while there are scenes that I still love, there are a lot of places that make me cringe. I could rewrite the whole thing, but my standard of writing has changed so much from when I was 14-18 that I would need to change the plot, a lot of characterisation and major aspects of the world itself for me to be proud of it. And to be honest I kind of grew to love those characters how they are and would rather put my writing efforts into something new.
I've written a few picture book texts and have been told by publishers that my writing has merit and is quite delightful (yay, it doesn't suck anymore!) but that due to my lack of a selling platform/author branding/marketing strategy I don't appear to be worth investing in. Not sure how to develop that, but I'm not going to give up yet.
If you're sixteen, you're not too young to write a novel. I don't think anyone is too young. :) Getting published can be a long journey though, so if you're sixteen, I would recommend just focusing on your writing for now. As my sister says, if one of your novels finally gets published when you're fifty, you can tell them you have twenty other books ready to go. :P
I'm twelve and just sent to a publisher XD
I'm twelve and just sent to a publisher XD
Good for you! :) There's nothing wrong with beginning early. I hope that they enjoy your work!
Sorry if my post sounded a little jaded - I've dealt with a lot of rejection over the last several years.
…im only 16 and I really want to try and get published, but……im only 16 and I keep saying, oh when I get older, when I get older.
Any words of wisdom? Any other young writers on here?
My friend was 10 I think when she got published. Don’t doubt your talent just because of age.
exactly friend. ex-actly.
@Riorlyne I'm so happy you shared! And I also feel the extreme triumph from finally sucking a little less.
@Riorlyne I'm so happy you shared! And I also feel the extreme triumph from finally sucking a little less.
Thanks! It can be hard to keep up a positive outlook in the face of rejection, but this site has been really helpful in getting me writing full swing again.
In my opinion, you're only too young to write when you can't even read. Other than that, just keep going. I've had a whole bunch of half-baked and stolen ideas rattling around in my noggin for forever, but that hasn't stopped me. Literally, I just have been lazy and not written an actual book. Keep writing, and you'll get better. My style changed, like, 15 billion times before I settled on this one, and it's bound to change more.
In the words of Meet the Robinsons, "Keep moving forward."
Guys good news!! My mom and I are thinking about putting together an anthology about a gas explosion in my hometown!! I'll give y'all more information when it's actually started, but I'm super excited for it!
@"Write Like You're Running Out Of Time" and @TryToDoItWrite I had no idea that you guys were so young! I mean I guess I knew, but I've never been good with ages and grades. And I mean that because the both of you are such stellar writers that there is no way to tell that y'all aren't old enough to buy a lotto ticket yet. Writing has nothing to do with age and everything to do with passion (something y'all have in spades). Go forward and push all those naysayers (even if it is the little voice in the back of your mind) out of the way.
I'm not sure if any of you would have an answer or explanation to my question but, do you guys have any preferences or recommendations on like a publisher for the future, because same only 15 but I want other people's opinions on publishers and stuff.
I've been having the same problem since the third grade, when I wrote my first novel. It was really bad, but I still wanted to publish it. I kept writing. I started my current novel in January 2016, and now I have nearly 200 pages! Throughout that time, I struggled with my own confidence, worrying that nobody would like my writing and that it was all bad. And looking back, most of it might have been bad, but some of it was good. If you keep writing you will keep getting better, and better, and better. A few months ago, I finally had the strength to share one of my creations, and now some of my teachers are helping me publish it!
That turned into a rant really fast, but the point is, you might feel too young but you're not. In fact, I'm younger than a lot of people on this chat. When it's time to get serious and try to get published, you'll know.
no one is too young to write i am trying to work towards a career in writing and art and because im the oldest in my house many of my younger siblings have started writing stories, it gets really annoying because it sometimes feels like they are just being copy cats again but when I sit back and think about it it is really cool. btw im in grade nine and the sibs that have been writing stories besides me are 3 and 5 yrs younger than me.
I'm just shy of 16 myself and I'm on the road to becoming a published author. Don't give up!!
Anyone at any age can publish a novel.
