Too young to write?

by Mark Rudd
4th January 2012

Here's one that has bothered me for a long time... I am writing (as I always am) a children's fantasy novel that I hope to submit to an agent this year. It's a fairly dark, spooky story in a magical setting, starring an ordinary girl. I only have one problem with it...

I'm only 21.

Is that enough life experience to be writing anything? Can a person's style be sufficiently mature by that age? Will an agent look at the DOB and dismiss the submission? I'd appreciate some thoughts on this!

Replies

Age is but a state of mind, as some lovely person told me once. It doesn't matter if you have walked this earth 21 years (well probably crawled one), or 46 like me, because age doesn't determine how much knowledge your brain absorbs, or come to think of it how wise you make think you are.

So no, I don't think you're too young to submit a manuscript, as Antoinette stated, it's all about how good your story is, and of course how much you believe in the story yourself.

I wish you the best of luck.

P.S. It was your shared work I was timed-out on. Very good by the way.

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Sarah
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Sarah Neeve
04/01/2012

I'd say you're the right age for that genre. Life experience isn't always what it's cracked up to be...

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Jonathan
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Jonathan Hopkins
04/01/2012

Hi Mark.

I'm 67. I wish I had have started at 21. Just do it, and enjoy it. You never know where the road might take you.

Maurice

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Maurice
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