Old Farts

Posted on 11 December 2009

I realized early on that I like to write from the points of view of older characters. And not like “oh, this elf is ten bajillion years old but only looks 20” older.  I meant people with the mindset of between thirty and sixty (if not older).  Now, considering I started writing when I was twenty, that led to an interesting conundrum: how am I supposed to write a convincing inner-monologue from a mindset I myself have never experienced?

Well, research!  If it is one thing that writing is about, it’s about research.  So I watched movies about older people, read books that had those types of PoV in them, and then, I tried to live it myself.  I’d imagine it was probably a pretty funny sight, a 20-year old trying to be somber and grumpy like a 60 year old.  To this day I still say “dagnabbit” and “whippersnappers” sometimes.

I found something through this though, and that was a stronger love of these characters.  So often, the hero or heroine of a story is young, anywhere from a true child to barely an adult.  This lends itself to throwing in a coming-of-age story like it is nobody’s business, but what about older characters?  Don’t they come-of-age too?  Just because you stopped physically growing doesn’t mean you have stopped as a person, and I think it is fairly under-represented of the older coming-of-ages.  What about the middle-aged man coming to grips with the fact that he isn’t a young 20-something anymore, or the old person in general coming to terms with mortality.  For me, there is a double benefit to these situations.

One, I get to write about something I don’t see written about much (or just isn’t in the books I read).

Two, I get to sort of live these situations early.  And honestly, having given the serious thought to my older characters, I have come to think of my elders less as cranky curmudgeons and more as at least having a valid point of view.  Don’t let my dad know I said that.

So, yeah, if you haven’t honestly tried to write an old person, try it.  Sit down and think out their life and why they are how they are, and see how you can help them to grow that next step.  It might just help you stop wasting your youth on the young. (hurhurhur)