If you’re in middle age, you hope you have a roof over your head and can look in the mirror without saying, “Where in hell has my face gone?” If you can say yes to both of those, you’re already ahead of the game. If, according to Oprah, your life has been whispering to you about writing that novel or simply getting any of your thoughts down on paper or screen, you may have a writer inside of you.

Of course there are many types of writing, but this blog is going to focus on novelists.

Why Be a Novelist?

Writing is a hobby for some, a career for others, and a passionate calling for many. Unfortunately, I have to check the “passion” box, which means that sometimes writing is both an obsession and a curse. It’s like that line in Moonstruck, when Olympia Dukakis asks Cher if she loves the man she’s been seeing.

“Ma, I love him awful,” Cher says.

To which Olympia responds, “That’s too bad.” She later explains that “they drive you crazy because they know they can.”

Now stay with me here. I haven’t lost my mind, comparing writing to a twisted love relationship, but yeah, some days it can feel like that. One moment, I’m loving it, flying across the keyboard—the next, banging my head against the wall and wondering 300 pages in, why am I even writing this particular story? But that’s another issue.

While it isn’t all unicorns and rainbows—in fact, it’s never unicorns and rainbows—there are so many great rewards from writing.

Writing is something you can do no matter what age, unlike athletes who are encouraged to hang it up at age twenty-seven. What I like best is the autonomy. Seriously, at what times in your life are you able to be in complete control of something without having to acknowledge a million other opinions? When you get to the editing phase, you’ll have to learn to collaborate. But the writing process itself is all you, like getting to play God. Oh yeah, I said it. You can make your characters do whatever you want, even kill them off. You can tap in to sides of yourself that would make your family and friends pray extra hard for you.

A Career Change in Middle Age

Hopefully, in middle age you’ve saved up financially from another career. If not, you may still have to take another job while trying to get your writing career off the ground. Either way, as I’ve gotten older, one thing has become crystal clear: You have to do the thing that gets you jazzed every morning, that makes you look forward to jumping out of bed and pouring that first cup of motivation. If you face the day with dread, and even the smell of coffee elicits a “meh,” then it’s time to change careers no matter what your age.

What Do You Write About?

Write the kind of book you’d like to read. If it interests you, it will keep readers hooked. If you would skim the pages and get bored, so will your readers. There’s the phrase “write what you know.” In middle age, you’ve no doubt amassed a lot of life experience, unless you’ve been sitting in front of a video game for the last twenty years. But that phrase doesn’t mean what I think some writers think it means. (Shameless Princess Bride reference.) Writing what you know doesn’t mean writing about how you choose dishwashing soap. It means don’t be afraid to be honest, to write what you wonder about, dream about. You could create your own world of space aliens, but your story could have themes of loneliness or courage or any emotions you’ve experienced that can help you write authentically. It doesn’t mean you’ve met aliens and spent considerable time on their planet, learning their ways. If so, you may need to check in to your nearest psychiatric facility.

You Wrote a Novel. Now What?

If you have access to the Internet, it isn’t hard to contact publishers and literary agents who can help you find a home for your manuscript. There’s also the self-publishing route, but I’m more familiar with the traditional way, so that’s what I’m covering here. All you have to do is Google publishers who are looking for the genre that matches your novel. Do your homework. Don’t blindly send queries to every publisher, because that’s a waste of time.

You may also want to consider literary agents who have connections to larger publishers. The big publishers are so big they can’t accept unsolicited queries from new writers. An agent can get you connected to them. You may even enjoy a larger advance if you get an agent.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not always easy to get an agent. Sometimes it’s better to make a name for yourself first. Then you’ll have some credentials to impress an agent. Like everything else, it takes time. The good news? It doesn’t matter how old you are—a great story is a great story. That’s all agents and publishers care about.

Listen to Your Life

I’ve been reading some self-help books lately, especially The Path Made Clear, by Oprah Winfrey. I think we middle-aged writers need to remember that nothing in our life is a waste, even if we didn’t get published until later. Every experience you had has given you a wealth of material you might not even realize. For example, one of my first jobs in high school was inserting advertising into newspapers in a local newspaper warehouse. I’m sure by now they have machines to do that job. It was pretty awful, standing on my feet for two-hour time periods with only a twenty-minute break in between. I was miserable, because I hate anything that involves physical labor, or, you know, moving. But each time we took a break, I would listen to everyone talk about their lives, especially some of the older women who had been doing this back-breaking work for decades. I was fascinated by them and their stories. I admired them not only for the way they did their work, but for the struggles they faced outside the warehouse. I wrote a short play called The Break Room about this sub-culture of newspaper workers, and of course, I fictionalized a lot. But the material was already there.

If you look back on your own experiences, you have many of the seeds you need to get started right away. There’s a story in everything. You just have to find it. Now get going and start writing! And keep checking this blog for more glimpses inside the writing life.