dark_gaia91

lol. yep.

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Oracle

It doesn't matter how old you are. Actually, the earlier you start, the better. You'll only improve with age, so it's a good idea to start now. Write about whatever you want to write about, and try to read a lot too. Even if you don't get anything published now (it's possible though, so go for it), all the practice will probably help you get published later.

And yeah, people at school probably won't take you seriously. Maybe they're jealous, or maybe they just think it's weird for a young person to enjoy writing. I've been writing since I was 12ish (and a little bit in my earlier childhood too) and I'm 18 now. I'm only actually starting to get serious about writing now, and I wish I had gotten serious about it earlier.

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The bubble is round.

dark_gaia91

allright. good advice. im gonna start now.

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Alex Kostin

I'm 14, but I love writing. I'm now working on my first book of my trilogy. The most important thing in your writing hobby is believing in the succes of your work.

JP Wagner

Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein when she was 17. Look how famous that book is.

The truth is, alot of editors, and publishers and agents, and professionals in the business don't admit it, but they do look down on young authors. But remembe,r you will eventually meet an actual person in teh business (not a robot who only looks for one thing, heh) and then ur writing and ur writing alone is what counts.

its like people think you cant be wise when your young, just on account of alot of moronic young people saying they're wise. well, theres alot of moronic old people who say theyre wise too. go figure. ^.^

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Quoth The Raven "Nevermore"

duck

Never discount the young, they have fought wars and built nations!

dark_gaia91

POWER TO THE CHILDREN!!!!!!! lol.

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amusinglackoftalent

If you're a writer, a true writer, you won't be able to help yourself. It doesn't matter how old you are.

I like that little diary chick...I believe her name was Anne Frank.

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"Writing a short story is like having a tumultuous love affair, while writing a novel is like walking into the sea to drown." Anne Beattie &

dark_gaia91

ya, i have her book. she was a good writer, and didnt even know it. i guess that's my problem, i don't know if i am a good writer. I mean, i know with all my heart that i want to be a writer, but its like my hands cannot write the words. I feel trapped in my own body.

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The Hack

I once saw a terrible movie, the name of which escapes me, about an aspiring young soccer player. While the movie was terrible, one scene has stuck with me for decades. The kid gets a mentor to help train him for his ultimate dream of achieving greatness on the field. The mentor is pushing the kid to his limits in a workout to the point the kid just falls to the ground from exhaustion. The mentor walks up to the kid, who is panting and sweating on the ground, and says something like - "you really want this don't you kid?" The kid shoots the mentor a look of pure determination and says, "more than anything in the world." The mentor just chuckles and says, "so does everyone else, now get up and run another mile."

I write this long-winded post merely to say hard work and determination is the only way you achieve anything worth while in this life. Wanting something "more than anything in the world" will not get you that something. Making the necessary sacrifices, and working as hard and long as it takes to perform at your best, is what gets you that something. Are you too young to be taken seriously? Maybe, but so what? One day you won't be so young. Will you be better off at that time if you sat around dreaming of becoming a great writer, or if you spend the interim working to make yourself the best writer you can possibly be? Remember, the years of your life will pass whether you spend them with your thumb up your arse or if you spend them accomplishing greatness. If you want to be at point X in ten years, then start moving in that direction now.

[jumps down from his soapbox and returns to the toils of the real world]

dark_gaia91

*applause* ENCORE, ENCORE, ARTHUR, ARTHUR MILLER!!!!!!!!!!

but ur right. I guess i just need to work at it. get better no matter what.

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bob rulz

Sounds like you need some new friends dark_gaia. Have you ever tried snapping at them?

Teenagers are just stupid and vain (yes, I'm generalizing here, as I'm 17). I never understood people who don't like reading and/or writing. But I don't think any of us here really do.

I never had a problem with my friends supporting me in my writing. Most of them write, too.

I wouldn't say there's no chance of someone your age being published, but it's fairly small. However, don't focus too much on that. Just write, write, and write, and don't worry about what other people might think of it. For now, just worry about what YOU think of it.

jlstratton

You're never too young to write and, like others hear have said, you have the same chance of becoming a published writer as anyone else. and, you have the opportunity to do it earlier and gain more experience in the long run.

Don't quit. Don't let anyone tell you you're too young.

JL Stratton

RebelGoddess

Oh, honey! You are never, ever, ever too young and don't let anyone tell you different!

If you love something, DO IT!

I can't say that enough.

You could have more talent than Steven King, Jane Austen, and Fyodor Dostoyevsy combined (or whomever you respect) or you could write and make "See Spot Run" look literary and I would still tell you the same thing.

Your writing will improve as you go and you'll find out so much about yourself.

And think of it this way:

You have a BIG 'one-up' on many writers; THEY didn't discover/find their passion for writing until they were older.

If you begin now, by the time you're an "experienced adult" as someone wrote, you'll have had years and years of practice honing and refining your writing.

On a slightly simmilar note, I just read an article about a young boy (not sure of his exact age, somewhere under 10) who is considered an idiot savant or prodigy when it comes to fashion. So if a little boy can dress adult women and do it very well, there's no doubt in my mind that age is not a factor when it comes to talent and passion.

Good luck and keep on writing!!

-Racheal

P.S.

And who cares if people take you seriously? As long as you know that you love what you're doing, then it doesn't matter. And if you keep at it, someone will take you seriously eventually (you never know when, could be in 10 years or it could be tomorrow) and recognize you as a writer.

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Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

KristanLH

dark_gaia, I hate to tell you this, but it doesn't necessarily get better as you get older. I'm 22 (not old, but not as young as you) but I decided to become a writer at age 9, and the kinds of things that have been said to me by my peers have not changed much in those 13 years.

I think there's been a lot of good advice and discussion in this thread--encouragement for young writers, including myself--so I'll just add this one thing: if you're going to be a writer, I think you need to learn how to simultaneously take feedback AND not give a rat's butt what anyone thinks. As a writer, you want an audience, sure, but unless someone is giving you constructive criticism on how to improve your writing, don't worry about what they're saying. Even if they're your friends. Because once you get published, they won't be able to joke anymore.

(And if they're really your friends, they probably don't mean the jokes anyway. It's just hard for some people to understand artists or take them seriously if they're not artists themselves. Hopefully your friends support you, even if they give you a hard time about your "non-traditional" professional choice.)

Also, I think it's fabulous that you write stuff down all the time. Most of the great writers did/do.

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kristanhoffman.com: a portfolio & blog. (a plog? a blolio?)