It’s never too late to write your book.

I had a conversation a while back with a writer friend who said they felt like it might be too late in their life to pursue writing a book. They should have started back in their 20s.

I used to feel the same. I'd dabbled in story in my early years, never making it past a page or two. But honestly, I didn't have a lot to say back then that wasn't an echo of someone else's thoughts.

I didn't know myself at all.

Thinking for myself was not a skill set I was honing. Instead, I focused on what I thought I "should" become/do, and other people knew better. I excelled at figuring out what authority figures expected of me and delivering, no matter what type of emotional pretzel it wound me into. (Yes, former doormat speaking.) 

I didn't know it then, but I was struggling with what I like to call people-pleasing- creative suppression. I didn't believe I could be creative. Worse, I didn't think my creativity would matter anyway. 

HA! Thankfully, with age comes a bit of wisdom (and wrinkles which I no longer mind :)

I think I didn't start writing in earnest until my late 30s because I wasn't supposed to yet. That may be a bit woo, but I like woo these days. I think I needed to get some life under me first, and I needed to unlearn a bunch of false beliefs.

My point: If you're coming into writing later in life, it's okay. 

You didn't miss out. 

You don't need anyone's permission to be a writer other than your own. 

Maybe you were like me and needed to learn a few things first that will, in turn, make your stories ten times richer than they could have ever been back in the day.

If you are called to write, then write. You can learn all the things as you go along. Craft, story structure, grammar, it will come.

All that matters is you and your heart for the story you are telling.