Terry Pratchett had his first novel published when he was 23. Not just finished, not just sent off, not even just accepted. Published, in shops, the whole caboodle.
Panic time: IT'S TOO LATE FOR ME NOW IT'S ALL OVER OH MY LIFE WOE ET CETERA WHAT WILL BECOME OF ME.
I might as well give up and get a job in a bookshop. I even have the job already, all I need to do is stare into a mirror and say 'I don't believe in CS Lewis' three times. I won't be a writer anymore.
Okay, maybe not. But it's become an obsession of mine recently to look up when the author I'm reading had their first novel published. Then I work out how long I've got, realistically, if I want to stand any chance of beating them.
It's not pathetic, I promise. It's motivational. Here's the league table:
The Wonder Boys:
1. Terry Pratchett, 23
=2. F Scott Fitzgerald, 24
=2. Mark Watson, 24
=4. Michael Chabon, 25
=4. David Lodge, 25
=4. Evelyn Waugh, 25
7. Tom Holt, 26
8. Christopher Brookmyre, 28
9. Toby Litt, 29
The first half of that list is already way out of my reach, once you factor in agent/editor/publisher turnarounds. And when you factor in writing quality, the second half is pretty much out of the question as well. So, ignore the spectacular young guns, they probably burned out before they were 40 anyway, am I right? Terry who? F Who Fitzgerald? Well... moving on.
The Second Wave:
=1. Agatha Christie, 30
=1. David Mitchell, 30
=1. Kurt Vonnegut, 30
=4. David Markson, 32
=4. Cormac McCarthy, 32
6. Andrew Crumey, 33
7. Stephen Fry, 34
8. Mick Jackson, 37
9. Lynne Truss, 39
10. Jasper Fforde, 40
I'm aiming for Markson and McCarthy, I think. Though anything before Stephen Fry would count as a lifelong brag.
While he's a painter not a novelist, I'd just like to point out that Paul Cezanne didn't become and artist until very late in life. After his retirement, I believe.
ReplyDeleteThen he became a major force in the art world, unequalled since.
There's still hope for us all.
Ben,
ReplyDeletemy first novel came out 1 October 2010. It was finished in 1995 but no publisher or agent wanted it. I'm closer to 50 years old than to 40.
Henry Miller's first published novel, _Tropic of Cancer_, came out in 1934 when he was 42 (he'd be 43 by year's end).
So, take heart. And persist, above all else. Markson said one of his books got, I believe, 50-something rejections before it came out.
JB