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!
I don't think age matters when writing a story, the only thing that should is that you enjoy what you're writing and are committed to the story. Life experience is important but it depends on the life you've lived. If you've lived an interesting life you'll have more life experience than someone who sits indoors all day.
<p>Write! write! Isn't the fabulous 'My mad, fat diary' based on the school diary of Rae Earl?</p><p></p><p>Yes, you will get older, more mature, life experience blar blare but it has its traps. If your heroine is young, ordinary girl and you are too, then I'd say you are best qualified to write about her: I couldn't- now that I am an old fossil of nearly 48 and a half I find it hard to write convincingly of the highs and lows of being in love and swinging-from- the- ceilings passion. When I try heart says ' you were a bit of bunny boiling nutter, girl', my head says 'try that you you'd have a slipped disc!' and my brain is making a break for Alzeheimers!</p><p></p><p>So my advice is to write while the red blood courses through your veins, and the muse is with you. Whether or not you have something which gets published, who knows but you will have split some of your imagination on paper, and if it's a children's book how lovely that you will be able to recapture your 21 year old self, if you read it to your own children in due course.</p><p></p><p>But specifically I don't know if would hinder your approach to an Agent, but they'd be bonkas to turn down a good marketable script on grounds of age.</p><p>Good luck!</p>
A 14 year old kid wrote the Eragon Series...
Though I do have to be honest, not a lot of kids have the gumption, imagination, guts, or experience in real world matters to do what he did. especially in this day and age.