Writing After Sixty

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by Diana Wallis Taylor

Someone wrote a book about “Geezers”, older guys who love to read books. A friend said, “I don’t consider myself a geezer! I always thought that when we got older, we just got better.”

I shared that with my husband and he thought a moment and said, “Well, if older is better, then I must be going on magnificent!” Writing at my age, is both rewarding and challenging. I’m delighted to have the time to write the books I love to write, and all the other projects that have presented themselves. In six years I’ve written eight books, not including my poetry book. A musical friend and I have almost completed an Easter cantata, “Glorious”, with a company in Queensland, Australia. It is also challenging when there are also other things I would like to spend time doing. My husband loves Alaska and so do I. We will make three trips there for fishing this summer.

When I received a check for 1.50 for a poem I wrote at the age of 12, I wanted to be a famous writer and travel. How could I know that life would get in the way? Someone once said that “Life is not determined by the dreams we dream, but by the choices we make.” Life does get in the way and we can all look back at choices we’ve made over the years and wish we had “overs”.

When my first novel was published by Revell, I was 71 years old, a far cry from the 12-year-old who dreamed of being a famous writer. An aunt put me through college because I chose an “acceptable” major-teaching. I didn’t want to teach, I wanted to be a writer. Journalism was not on my aunt’s radar. I taught school for 22 years, owned two bookshop-coffeehouses, sold real estate and worked for a private Christian college. Oh, I kept my hand in with poems, short articles, chapbooks, but the great novel eluded me. It wasn’t until I had experienced some difficult and traumatic times in my life that I had the experience and empathy to write about the woman at the well in the Gospel of John. God’s timing is never late. He uses everything that happens in our lives and turns them for good. If you have a book that has been on your heart for years but you feel it is too late, may I be an example?

Grab that cup of coffee, open up that laptop, and begin. A journey starts with the first step, a book with the first word. Attend conferences and workshops, join a writer’s critique group or start one.

It’s never too late.

Claudia Wife of Pontius PilateDiana Wallis Taylor is a speaker and the author of eight books; five Biblical Fiction, three Christian fiction, and is co-author of an Easter cantata. She has taught workshops on poetry and Biblical Fiction. She and her husband, Frank, live in San Diego, California, where she serves on the Board of the San Diego Christian Writer’s Guild.

Comments 0

  1. Hi, Diana! I enjoyed your post and love what you said about God’s timing. My writing journey has been similar in that I started down the path a little later in life. It’s never too late!

  2. Thank you so much for sharing about your journey. I used my youth to raise six wonderful kids. I don’t regret making motherhood my career, but at times I get a little impatient with how long it has taken me to learn the craft of writing. I didn’t know how much I didn’t know! Thanks for the encouragement.

  3. Great encouraging post, Diana. I was 67 before I wrote a manuscript nearly five years ago. I don’t know how I survived so long without writing! I’m in love with it. :)God is good.

  4. I’ve been writing since I was nine years old, but only seriously in the past couple of years. Life often does take a big bite out of our dreams. I’m so glad that it’s never too late for God to bring, perhaps, a modified dream to pass.

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