Over in The Habit Membership forum, Colleen Rudolph asked a question that might have relevance to a lot of readers of The Habit Weekly. So I thought I would answer it here. Here’s the question:
Can you be a writer, is it really your gift/calling, if you haven’t been writing and telling stories since you were a child? I can’t think of a single writer I have heard interviewed who hadn’t started when they were young. Yet I’m only just beginning to write in my 40s. Are there any famous writers who were late bloomers? People who did it well that didn’t start until later in life? I understand that all writers feel inadequate or struggle with imposter syndrome, but it feels more acute when you can’t say “I’ve always wanted to be a writer” as it seems every other writer is able to do. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks, Colleen, for being willing to ask such a vulnerable question.
It might help to take a closer look at three separate questions from your first question—or, rather, I’m going separate your first question into three parts. If you haven’t been writing and telling stories since you were young, you ask,
- can you be a writer?
- can it really be your calling?
- can it really be your gift?
Question 1
Can you be a writer if you haven’t been writing since you were young? I think it will be helpful to treat “writer” not as an ontological category and certainly not as an exalted position. I think the most useful definition of writer is simply “somebody who writes.” Think how odd the question is if you plug in a most other –er nouns. “Can you be a bank robber if you haven’t been robbing banks since you were young?” Yes. Once you take up bank-robbing, you are a bank robber. It is my understanding, in fact, that very few bank robbers start when they are children.
So, yes, you can be a writer even if writing wasn’t something you were interested in when you were young.
Question 2
Can writing be your calling if you haven’t been writing since you were young? I have a friend who was a bachelor until deep into his 40s. Then he married a woman with teenagers, and now, suddenly, parenting teenagers is his calling—one of his callings, anyway. When he was 45, being a father wasn’t on his radar. When he was 47, being a father to nearly-grown people was one of the most important things in his life. You have many callings; they have changed throughout your life. Whether or not writing was a calling earlier in your life, it might be now.
Question 3
Can writing be one of your gifts if you haven’t been writing since you were young? I don’t really know how to answer that question except to say that the Gifter gives gifts when and how it pleases him.
But mainly…
But mainly, here’s what I keep coming back to as I consider your question: forty-something Colleen has a whole lot more to say than twenty-something Colleen. You have a more distinct voice. You have a more fully-developed view of the world. You have learned things the hard way, and you can speak deeply about things that a younger version of yourself could only speak about superficially, if at all.
All things being equal, sure, twenty-five years of writing practice is better than five years of writing practice. And yet, everything you could have learned about writing when you were young you can learn now if you haven’t picked it up already (and I suspect you’ve picked up a lot of it already).
I don’t know how wise and insightful you were when you were a teenager or a twenty-something. But however wise and insightful you were, you are wiser and more insightful now. So take heart. Take courage.
