DIALOGUE AND CHARACTERIZATION FROM REAL LIFE

by Jackie King

Realistic dialogue with clear attributions makes the characters in your story come alive. Natural sounding dialogue helps distinguish one character from another. 

The death knell for a writer:

Have you ever been reading, and suddenly wondered which character is speaking? I have, and the experience frustrates me. I'm forced to stop reading and count quotation marks backward to the last attribution, then count forward to learn who’s talking. I’m annoyed right out of the story. I want to throw the book across the room. If I haven’t bonded with the characters in a special way, I might quit and move to another book in my TBR (to be read) stack.

Solution to the problem:

Dialogue confusion occurs when attributions aren’t given or when characters all sound alike. Realistic dialogue makes the people in a story come alive. Natural sounding dialogue can help distinguish one character from another even without names. If there's any doubt about the reader knowing who is speaking, use the simple attribution, said.  The word, "said," is almost invisible to American readers. Don't be afraid to use it .

 How do we keep the reader turning pages?

Try the following exercise to hone this skill:

Write a scene with three people without using names of characters.

I did this in a class once, and it was so much fun! I chose a high school principal’s office as the setting. The three characters were a teenage boy, his father and the principal. I worked all afternoon on this project, and finally achieved the goal to my satisfaction. I used body language and conversation only. No names.

My challenge:

The boy needed to sound young, and inexperienced. He's embarrassed, and intimidated  by the situation, but trying not to show his feelings to the grownups.

The father channeled a middle aged businessman, highly annoyed and embarrassed by his son’s bad behavior. He snapped at his son, was tersely polite with the principal, and he looked at his watch every couple of minutes.

The principal was professional, but obviously most interested in solving his problem and getting on with running the school. The premise of the scene was to portray a student getting little real guidance from either adult

A stealthy technique:

Good dialogue is not easy to write. Some people seem to have a natural flare for this, and others have to work hard and rewrite a number of times. Both writers create successful novels, and entertain readers.

Eavesdropping is a good tool for improving dialogue. When you’re at a restaurant, listen to the conversations nearby. This works even better, if you can’t see the people who are talking. Picture their appearance, age, color of hair, level of education, and apply that method to your own characters. Is one person from a different part of the country? How does his speech pattern and lingo differ from locals?

Moving on.

None of us, writers and readers alike, graduate from the school of life. We experience either joy or vexation, both through books and in life. We learn continually, and writers record this fine journey. 

Remember:

Everything that’s going on in our seemingly mundane lives, will one day be considered history.

Another Birthday--More Time to Write!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I turned 79 on February 23, and am grateful for the chance to write for another day; or maybe even for another year!

I've heard so many people go bonkers over their birthdays. One friend cried when she turned twenty because she'd no longer be a teenager. (You'd think she would have said, "Thank God!)  Another friend suffered angst when she turned 30, which is the perfect age, if you ask me. You're old enough to know something, but you're still young enough to accomplish anything you want. Or at least try.

A coworker became furious with me because I brought her a cake and flowers on her 40th birthday. She never got over her anger. Silly me. I thought I was being nice. I had no idea she had a phobia about aging.

When I was about 30, a friend of mine contracted bone cancer. She was a brave woman and suffered greatly; refusing to take any more pain medicine than absolutely necessary so she could spend alert time with her children and husband as long as possible. On the day she died, I promised God that if I could live to raise my three children, I'd never complain about growing another year older. And I haven't. I celebrate!

Usually I celebrate all month. This year I got started a little late because income tax preparation slowed me down. Now that is finished and in the hands of my accountant, so it's party time for me.  

But along with the dinners out, ice cream and cake, and dancing on the tabletop, I intend to make sure I get in some writing time. As I sometimes remind younger writers: Writers Write!

A SALUTE TO WRITERS CLUBS

by Jackie King

Tulsa NightWriters--My Soft Place to Fall

Writer’s clubs have sprung up all over the country, even in the smallest of communities. In Oklahoma where I live these groups grow like wild flowers such as Indian Blanket or Indian Paintbrush. These resplendent native plants seem to force their way up through hard ground and bloom gloriously in spite of any obstacle.

Indian Paintbrush

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Writing is a lonely business and those of us who choose this path feel compelled to gather together with others who are infected with the same bug. Charles Sasser, Tulsa NightWriter member and, author of numerous books, including At Large: The Life and Crimes of Randolph Franklin Dial (St. Martin’s True Crime Library), speaks of “The lonely circle of light…”

  

Charles Sasser, Author

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Filled with trepidation, I first visited Tulsa NightWriters in the late 1980’s.  I had just survived an unexpected (by me) divorce, and had taken refuge in writing. What fun it would be to murder my Ex-husband on paper, I thought. 

I'm a lion on paper, but walking into the door of that library took all of the courage I could scrape together. Like most writers I was sensitive, shy and petrified to be sitting with “real” writers. However, I soon realized that the business-like façade I had assumed to cloth my uncertainty, was not needed with this group.

This smokescreen of a woman totally in control of her life had sprung to life from my imagination. That’s what we writers do: we make things up, create our own worlds and friends, and in many ordinary circumstances we never feel as though we quite fit in. It took me a while to grasp that I had at last found a place with other square pegs and we all fit nicely into the square holes available at TNW.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tulsa NightWriters is the oldest writers club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was started in the 1950’s for people who worked. The history of this club is nebulous. The group keeps no minutes and usually ignores Roberts Rules of Order. Their total focus is to support individuals who write or who want to write.

As far as I know there’s no written account of the club. If there is such a record, the pages must lie in some dusty trunk with unpublished manuscripts. 

For over 30 years I have perennially blossomed in this organization that focuses on writers and the prose and poetry they create.

As I said, we have no formal history as a club. Minutes are never taken at meetings. Few people volunteer for offices. Most officers are drafted and serve from loyalty and gratitude for the support they themselves have received from the group. Our meetings are about wordsmithing, and the acceptance of all oddballs who pursue this occupation.

TNW Mall Signing 2015

Most all of our members work at day jobs and spend evenings honing the craft they love. At each meeting members are called on to tell what they accomplished during the month.

Members discuss their projects
Christmas Party 2014

If I should say, “I got six rejections, but one of my stories came back with a different colored paperclip," this bunch will applaud wildly. “Way to go, Jackie, at least the editor looked at your piece.” Or, “Next time you’ll get a contract,” they might say. knowing that the new clip means the editor actually read some of my story.

The current membership is around 80 and anyone who writes or is thinking about writing is welcome. We have some members who have sold hundreds of books and others who are just beginning. Ages range from 14 to 94. The only prerequisite is to want to write.

Organizing writers is like herding cats, and TNW doesn't even try. Each member walks to his/her own drummer. That’s the reason it’s the best writers club ever.

TNW Anthology--2007

Members have compiled two short story anthologies. SHADES OF TULSA in ,  and A RIVER OF STORIES, 2015. Parts of this post have been included as a history of the club. 

 

Edited by Bill Wetterman
TNW Anthology 2015

The Importance of First Sentences

by Jackie King

Are first sentences really that important? This topic is often discussed in a group called Smart Women Writers. One very successful author suggested that writers shouldn’t spend too much time worrying about the first line, since all lines were important. Good point. But I still sweat over those first few words.

One writer posed this question to members: “What’s the all-time favorite first line that you’ve written?”

That writer’s name is Susan Shay, author of BLIND SIGHT, MAKE ME HOWL and TO SCHOOL A COWBOY. The line she picked came from a current work-in-progress:

Blind Sight by Susan Shay

“Lucy Lu’s dad was driving her crazy; since his death he just wouldn’t shut up.”

Is that great or what?

Most of us have a favorite opening line. Mine was written by Deborah Camp in her book, BLAZING EMBERS. (Awful title, she hated it too, but you know editors.):

Blazing Embers by Deborah Camp

“Burying a body is grave business.”

~~~~~

Below I’ve added the first line from my first Grace Cassidy mystery, THE INCONVENIENT CORPSE:

 

The Inconvenient Corpse

“Grace Cassidy stared at the stranger’s body; he was about sixty, pot-bellied, naked, and very dead.”

THE CORPSE WHO WALKED IN THE DOOR, the second in that series, had to be revised. Here’s the result:

 

The Corpse Who Walked in the Door

“The knife dripped blood with each step that Grace Cassidy ran.”

Book three, THE CORPSE AND THE GEEZER BRIGADE, starts like this:

“The last thing Grace Cassidy expected to see when she accepted a job as inn sitter in Tulsa, was a gathering of steely-eyed old men seated in the library of the B&B.”

 ~~~~~

First lines from some of my published novellas:

“It was madness. One didn’t buy a husband in the same way one bought a lumberyard.”

(Okay, that’s two sentences.) The Spinster, the Pig and the Orphan: from the anthology THE FOXY HENS AND MURDER MOST FOWL. Deadly Niche Press.

 ~~~~~

“I went on two first dates with my ex-husband.” 

Flirting at Fifty; from the anthology CHIK~LIT FOR FOXY HENS. Diva Publishing.

~~~~~

My current WIP, (working title switches between GOOSE OVER MY GRAVE and THE EDGE OF NOWHERE):

“Liz O’Brien’s day started with a feeling of wrongness.”

This is a suspense novel and will have a change of pace from my usual cozy mystery. If anyone out there has a preference for either of these titles, please let me know.

~~~~~

In conclusion let me quote a statement from Stephen King in a 2013 interview:

"An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story... it should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this."

No one can say it better than the master-writer himself.

Does anyone out in cyberland have a favorite first line? If so, I’d love to hear it.

Cheers,

Jackie

Falling in Love with Revision

by Jackie King

Do you love or hate revision? When I first started writing I hated what seemed to me a tedious and mostly unnecessary exercise. What could need correcting except perhaps, punctuation and spelling? I had stories to tell and a passion to write these tales from the depth of my heart. I did a fair job of it, too, I thought. I even managed to sell a couple of short stories. (This was some time ago and the short story market was good.)

My mother, an English teacher, also wrote and hung around with folks having the same inclination. One of her more successful writer friends, a local journalist named Vera Holding, dropped by with a draft she’d just banged out on her typewriter. (Those were the clickety-clackety, non-electrical machines that writers, businesses and students used for letters, manuscripts and such back in the dark ages.)

“Would you listen to my story and give me some feedback?” Vera asked, and we agreed, so she began to read aloud. I had seen this woman’s published work and expected smooth and polished prose, but that didn’t happen. Her story was so bad I couldn’t think of anything to suggest that might help. Her work was unsalable in my opinion. So I decided to be kind and lie. “That’s just fine,” I said, and smiled.

Mother, who knew the woman and her work much better than I did, made some suggestions to strengthen the plot, but nothing could save that story. Or so I thought. Her work had no plot; her characters were shallow and her writing seemed lifeless. But bless her heart, I thought, she’d not learn that from me.

The next day Vera came back and asked to read her revised story aloud. I could hardly keep from rolling my eyes, disappointed that I had to listen to that drivel a second time. But I was raised to be polite, so I folded my hands in my lap, crossed my ankles, and pasted a smile on my lips.

When Vera began to read something magical happened. The day before I’d been bored and even a little embarrassed by her writing. Now I was transfixed. Somehow this author had breathed life into her characters, their dialogue and the narration. The plot was still weak, but the protagonist was so compelling that I knew the story would sell. And it did.

That day I became a devotee to the power of revision. I also learned the difference between a wanna-be writer and a professional writer. Learning and applying good writing technique takes time and many, many hours of writing. But anyone who is willing to make the effort and to revise their work until its right, can master this skill.

Years have passed and revision is my favorite part of writing.

My Pet Peeve in Grammar

by Jackie King

I’m not sure when writers started using double punctuation at the end of a sentence, but anytime I read this in any story, I want to throw that book across the room. This weird, double-punctuation always consists of a question mark plus an explanation point at the end of a sentence. For example:

“Does that man have a gun?!”

Rather than:

“Does that man have a gun?”

Let’s suppose the scene had already been set up with our protagonist observing a man dressed in camo. The guy is trying to conceal himself behind a large indoor plant and a woman’s voice rings out,“Does that man have a gun?”

Note from reader: I don’t need the author calling my attention to the fact that this is exciting.

The addition of the exclamation point pulls me out of the scene, the book, and all I hear is the author is shouting in my head, “I’m afraid you’re a little dense and won’t understand how exciting this sentence is, if I don’t draw attention to it.”

Note to all writers: Readers are not dumb!

You will notice that in the above sentence that I didn't use both a period and an exclamation point, as if drawing attention to the fact this is a declarative sentence. That would be stupid, wouldn’t it? (Single punctuation mark.)

It’s equally stupid to use two punctuation marks at the end of an interrogative sentence.

Do you have a pet grammar-peeve? I’d love to hear about it.

Cheers,

Jackie

Be Lucky by Bill Kirton

Two recent experiences made me start thinking about the role of luck in our writing and publishing careers. First I received an email from an online writer friend whose books weren’t selling and who was beginning to doubt her writing abilities. I tried to reassure her with my answer that it’s something most writers feel some of the time.  Then came news of some other writers who’d decided to give up because they’d been targeted by trolls who’d written nasty reviews of their books, sometimes without even having read them. My friend needed some luck to generate interest in her books, the others were being brought down by bad luck (and the incomprehensible desire of some people just to hurt others for their own amusement).

I remembered having written an article a few years back about the balance between luck and laziness in my own writing career. I won’t reproduce the whole thing here but it concerned one of those weeks that make being a writer very satisfying. I was feeling good because I’d started a new novel, there was a good turn-out at a reading and talk I gave, then came news that a publisher was interested in some of my sci-fi/fantasy stories and finally, on the Friday morning, proof copies of a non-fiction book I’d written arrived along with a message saying the publisher wanted to commission two more in the series.

So, all good news when I set off for Glasgow for the weekend of my grandson’s 5^th birthday. Needless to say, my two grandsons weren’t particularly  impressed by any of this. As far as they’re concerned, my writing skills are judged on whether I can make them laugh when they come into my bed in the mornings. Needless to say, their laughter isn’t provoked by elegant turns of phrase or dramatic linguistic and thematic juxtapositions but by me doing funny voices and creating characters who live inside walls or have two mouths so that they can talk and eat simultaneously. (This particular detail involved an interesting sub-plot about the anatomical separation of vocal chords and alimentary canal and, if the listeners had had their way, would also have involved an exploration of what happened at the rectal end of the process.)

So altogether it added up to a happy weekend. But what’s it got to do with luck?

Well, when lots of ‘results’ of this sort come together, it feels like (and it is) luck. But it has to be put in the context of the many weeks or months, of ‘lucklessness’ which preceded it. We get pleasure out of writing, we work at it, cut, edit, polish, to make it as good as we can, and we send it away hoping that it reaches someone who appreciates it and recognises its quality. So when we get the usual rejection slip or, worse, no acknowledgement at all, we’re deflated, and it’s easy to start wondering whether we’re deluding ourselves and should maybe start a paper round or a window cleaning business. No. Keep writing, keep submitting material. Rework it, resubmit it because, yes, in the present market you need luck but (cliché alert) you make your own. If you stop writing and submitting you’ll never get lucky. I know, that’s so obvious it’s hardly worth stating, but it’s too easy to start thinking it’s all a waste of time. It isn’t. Look back over material you may have forgotten, look at it critically, amend it if necessary, and start sending it away again.

As for the trolls, their need to hurt others reveals more about them than it does about you. How many of them ever have the pleasure of opening a package, taking out a shiny new book with their name on the cover, cradling it and feeling as if they’ve just had another baby?

The Writing Process Blog Hop

By Mark W. Danielson 

 

  I was flattered when Shamus Award winner Paul Marks tagged me to join the Writing Process Blog Hop. I encourage you to check out Paul’s books and writing methods at www.PaulDMarks.com.  At the end of this post I will tag mystery romance author Terry Odell who will post about her writing process on her blog on June 9th.  Every author's responses are unique, so please take a moment to read and enjoy them.

What am I working on?

Spectral Gallows, the second in the Maxx Watts detective series, was released in October, 2013.  Since then, several personal drawn-out medical issues gave me a taste of what our wounded warriors experience on a daily basis.  Although my back surgery wasn’t so bad, hand surgery made me appreciate having all my limbs.  But physical challenges of are only part of what our returning soldiers experience.  The cost of their emotional and psychological pain is staggering, and the damage unknown.  I explored this element with a Vietnam veteran in Spectral Gallows where he is ignored when speaking of a decades-old murder in Fort Worth’s haunted Scott Theater because he is a society drop-out.  Based on a true incident, it was fun exploring the paranormal in this twisted cold-case novel.    

Although I was well into a sequel, I have put it on hold so I can focus on my colorful grandfather, Maynard Owen Williams.  While working as a foreign correspondent to the Christian Science Herald and the National Geographic’s first foreign correspondent National Geographic, Williams was a true Indiana Jones having dined with T.E. Lawrence of Arabia, witnessed the first shots of World War I in the Ottoman Empire, served as a military attaché in China, and was among the first Anglos to enter King Tut’s tomb.  He claimed that those who entered the tomb were all cursed with death, and true to his word, he passed away – decades later.   He passed when I was eleven, but I’ve gotten to know him through his writing and photographs, which are still available on line.  Whether I can do him justice in a biography remains to be seen.  Regardless, it will be nice getting to know the man behind the lens and typewriter.    

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Every one of my fictional stories uses real situations and settings because it helps people relate.  In Day Stalker, a map of Redwood Regional Park helped readers follow where things were happening.  Oddly, numerous coincidences have occurred over the years.  A tree I wrote about in Day Stalker actually fell as I had described years later.  In Danger Within, I needed to ditch an airliner near southern California’s Channel Islands because salvage divers had to find out why the plane went down.  Years later, a real airliner crashed within two miles of where I wrote about.  Considering how large the ocean is, the odds of that happening seem quite small.  In the early 90s, I wrote about an Air Force general who was murdered, but left to appear a suicide. Two weeks later, the actual Chief of Naval Operations took his own life.  (For a variety of reasons, I never sought publication on this book.)  While these and other coincidences have led some to believe I am psychic, I assure you that isn’t the case.  However, each occurrence is uniquely interesting.

To better answer the question, though, everyone’s life experiences are different so our writing styles reflect that.  Over the past twenty-five years I have written over twenty novels, but only chosen to submit five.  Two of my unpublished stories concern actual wildfires and earthquakes, and while fascinating to research and write, the publishing world generally frowns on Mother Nature as the antagonist.  I’ve also found it more interesting writing new novels rather than invest time in numerous re-writes.  As with so many things in life, it is better to move forward than look back.    

Why do I write what I do? 

Whether made up or real, everything I write has been churning inside for a long time.  When I do sit down to write, the words flow naturally.  As for topics, I never search for them.  Whether they come from media bombardment or my dreams, my stories allow me to vent and resolve problems that could never happen in real life.  I will add that my stories are often very personal and the result of frustration.  As an active airline pilot, I am offended at how the media reports aircraft mishaps.  When passengers are involved, their coverage is non-stop coverage, even if the information is unverified or erroneous, but when a cargo jet goes down and pilots are lost, it barely rates a mention.  Danger Within was the result of a poorly handled investigation, as was The Innocent Never Knew, which boldly tells the story of the cover-up of President Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown’s crash in the Balkans.  Day Stalker was the hardest to write because it involves a missing child, and yet this story of hope came to life through a very real search and rescue.  In Writer’s Block, I killed off a publisher, which is something many authors would love to do.  As mentioned earlier, Spectral Gallows discusses war-torn veterans and the paranormal in Maxx Watts’ attempt to solve a cold-case death.  On occasion I will put a story on hold if another piques my interest, but I never forget where I was.  Normally, one sentence or idea is all I need to write a story.  

    

How does my writing process work?

Two words – subliminal thoughts.  I say this because when I sit down to write a first draft there is a direct connection between my subliminal thoughts and my keyboard.  I prefer writing in a quiet room to avoid distractions.  A ringing phone scares the hell out of me because it brings me back to reality.  Most of the time I get back into the zone, but there are times when I must walk away. 

   

I am much more prolific on the road than at home.  I once wrote 148 pages in four days in Almaty, Kazakhstan, because there were few distractions.  Of course, airline layovers are normally a day or less, but in this case, writing was a great way to pass the time.  

While some authors outline their stories, I let my characters tell their side with no restrictions.  The first draft is always fun because is I have no idea who lives, dies or gets lucky.  This approach keeps my stories fresh, and since I never know who committed the crime until the end, I doubt anyone else will.

I switched to series writing because it is fun expanding characters and sub-plots.  I have no idea how long the vicious Skinheads in Writer’s Block and Spectral Gallows will torment Maxx Watts, but it is always good having unresolved elements in a story.  The best thing about protagonist detectives is their plots and locations are endless.     

Thank you, Paul Marks for including me.  Now I’ll turn it over to romance mystery author Terry Odell.  

From childhood, Terry Odell wanted to "fix" stories so the characters would behave properly.  Once she began writing, she found this wasn't always possible, as evidenced when the mystery she intended to write turned into a romance, despite the fact that she'd never read one.  Odell prefers to think of her books as "Mysteries With Relationships."  She writes the Blackthorne, Inc. series, the Pine Hills Police series, and the Mapleton Mystery series.  Her latest work is Deadly Puzzles.  You can find her high in the Colorado Rockies—or at terryodell.com.

 

Is it Lazy Old Man Syndrome?

By Chester Campbell

I'll have to confess, for the past few weeks I've been acting like an old man. Instead of working on a new book, I've been perched in my recliner watching TV movies, taking naps, and using my laptop to peruse Facebook and links to all kinds of weird articles. On most days I've headed to the mall for my two-mile walk, and I've done a bit of online promotion for my stable of published books.

But act like a motivated author and write something new?

Sorry.

It isn't writers block. I've never had a problem with that. Maybe it's plain old laziness. After pushing the boundaries for 88 years, maybe I need a change. Mountain climbing is out. Don't believe the old legs would hold up for that. Swim the English Channel? I'm not all that fond of salt water. Anyway, the cold temperatures here in Nashville lately have been quite sufficient to keep me inside where it's warm and dry.

I don't need anything that's going to take a lot of training. I'm not interested in getting another degree, or taking up hang gliding. Although I do feel a certain fondness for things of the latter ilk. So where does that leave me?

I've been a writer of one sort or another most of my life, at least since I entered college to study journalism. Starting out as a newspaper reporter, I free-lanced nonfiction, wrote speeches for a governor, founded a local slick-paper magazine, worked for advertising and public relations agencies, and published a magazine for a trade assoociation.

Obviously, writing is what I know best. So why don't I quit fooling around and do it? Good question.

The simple answer would be to get my lazy rear out of the recliner and go to work. But that's the way I work, sitting on my lazy rear in the recliner with a laptop in my lap, just as I'm doing right now. Oh, what a horrible conundrum. What to do, what to do?

Forget I said all this. I'm going to the mall and walk.

Visit me at Chester D. Campbell.com

Classic

By Mark W. Danielson

Classic.  A great word suggesting timeless quality.  It used to describe boats, airplanes, cars, art, music, even dance moves and golf swings may fall into this category.  Why?  Because masterpieces in every form appreciatively draw us in.  Of course, exactly who determines what is considered “classic” remains to be seen. 

I have seen and owned plenty of beautiful things over the years, but not everything should be considered classic.  Back in 1971, the blue 1965 Corvette I owned with two tops and a 396 engine was nothing more than a gas guzzling hot rod.  Even then I found it interesting that Road and Track magazine could not find a single original owner of a ’65 396 Vette.  Sadly, I found out why when the car died the day I brought it home.  Yes, folks, when it came to reliability, the 396 Corvette was among the worst.  A few months later I sold it on a prayer for $1,300.00, unaware that this same car would later be worth over $120,000.00 because it’s now a classic.  (I’d write a story about missed opportunities except we’ve all been there before.)

As a military pilot from 1975-95, I spent a lot of time flying F-4 Phantoms and A-4 Skyhawks.  Now these workhorses-turned-classic fighters sit aboard museums such as the USS Lexington – the ship I carrier qualified on – awaiting visitors so they can relive their glory days.  Suddenly, I feel old.   

One of present my cars is a 1987 that some consider classic.  That’s just not right!  After all, 1987 is like yesterday!  And then a visit to an antique store turned up far too many items that came from my childhood.  For whatever reason, these toasters, toys, posters, are now in high demand.  Mom, why did you give away my Tonka trucks and train set?  I could be rich, had I been able to warehouse all of these things. 

What’s particularly disturbing is how classy people will never be considered classic.  Instead, as their faces fall and waistlines expand, they simply get OLD.  Think about those labels -- classic versus old.  No wonder elderly folks get grumpy!  The mirror makes them old.  Inside they are knowledgeable teens!

Clearly, aging is the price of being mortal, but nothing says we can’t leave classic work behind.  Consider taking that approach in your writing, and remember there is no age or term limit for authors.  Carefully crafted words may lead to masterpieces, but remember to enjoy life along the way.