No—and yes.
If the question is
whether it matters how old you are when you start writing, the answer is “no.” Laura
was 43 when she started her professional career writing a column in a local
newspaper. She was 63 when she wrote her first book: an autobiography that she
couldn’t find a publisher for. Little
House in the Big Woods was published when she was 65, and These Happy Golden Years was published
when she was 76. As long as you have your health, it’s never too late to start.
Of course, old age can interfere. Laura left a draft manuscript,
which was published years after her death and titled The First Four Years. Her later writing was hindered by rheumatism,
caring for Almanzo before his death, and her own declining energy level after
it. But age itself isn’t an excuse not to write.
If the question is
whether it matters how old your audience is, the answer is “yes.” Laura’s first
attempt at a book was an autobiography written for adults, but she couldn’t
find a publisher. Then Rose met a children’s book editor who liked the idea of
a children’s book based on Laura’s frontier memories. Laura envisioned Little House in the Big Woods as a way
to preserve Pa’s stories and pass them down to children. It sold well, and she
followed with Farmer Boy (about
Almanzo’s childhood), Little House on the
Prairie, and on through These Happy
Golden Years. She found her niche in writing for children.
That doesn’t mean it was
an easy path.
I’ve always been struck
by the difference between Little House in
the Big Woods and the subsequent books. Little
House in the Big Woods is a shorter book that seems to be aimed at early
readers and even younger listeners, while the later books are aimed at a
slightly older audience of readers from 8 through 12 years old. I personally
think that Laura could have continued writing at the Little House in the Big Woods level and attracting new members of
that audience, but I don’t think she would have captured the middle grade
readers who ended up being her biggest fans. Instead, the books aged as the
characters did. Up to a point, anyway.
If you remember the post
from two weeks ago, this was a point of contention between Laura and Rose. As
Laura said in a January 26, 1938 letter to Rose: “Just a word more about Silver
Lake. You fear it is too adult. But adult stuff must begin to be mixed in, for
Laura is growing up.” The final does include some of the matters that Rose
apparently complained about, such as a riot by the railroad workers, but they
may have compromised on the descriptions or changed situations to soften the
effect. Unfortunately, I don’t have the original manuscript to compare with the
published version.
In any event, Laura had a
point. In that same letter, she mentioned that her readers “all seem wildly
interested and want to know how, where, and when Laura met Almanzo and about
their getting married. . . . Surely Laura will have to be rather adult then.
And I think it will be more reasonable and easier to begin mixing it in, in
Silver Lake.”
Whatever compromise Laura
and Rose came up with worked. Laura got her way about including more adult
matters as the books progressed. But even when Laura and Almanzo were dating,
the books remained wholesome and readable for their middle grade audience.
Some people are best when
writing for adults, some excel when writing for young children, and others fall
somewhere in between. Even children’s writers cover a wide range. I tried
writing early chapter books and failed miserably, and I’d probably be even
worse at writing picture books. But I’m confident with middle grade fiction.
The age of the writer
doesn’t matter, but the age of the audience does.
That’s this week’s lesson
from Laura Ingalls Wilder.
__________
The photo shows Rocky
Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri, where Laura lived while writing the Little
House books. I took the picture in 2010.
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