When Did I Become the Old Writer?

I don't mean my chronological age.

While talking with some other writers, I realized I've been writing for twenty-six years. Been actively pursuing publication for twenty-six years.

Now granted, I've been published in non-fiction for twelve years now, fiction for eight years. But actually putting pen to paper/typing on my typewriter/typing on my laptop? Yeah, twenty-six years. That's roughly half my life so far.

(P.S. I found the first thing I ever submitted. It sucked. Really, really sucked.)

Then I hear these other folks who've been publishing two or three years whining about how hard things are now.

It's all I can do to keep my Pepsi from spraying from my mouth. Now, I get why the old-timers (writers with a couple more decades of experience than me) get a peeved with newbies.

On the other hand, folks with more experience than me are also complaining about how hard it is. Everything changed overnight for them, and they don't know what to do.

Honestly, both sides are wrong. Today's Information Age is the best time ever to be an artist of any kind. We have so many options. We can reach billions of people around the world. I've sold books in five different continents. I've lost track of how many different countries. We writers have nothing to complain about. The audiences are there. It's up to us  to find them.

So either quit bitching about how hard writing is today, or get off my lawn!