Here's one that has bothered me for a long time... I am writing (as I always am) a children's fantasy novel that I hope to submit to an agent this year. It's a fairly dark, spooky story in a magical setting, starring an ordinary girl. I only have one problem with it...
I'm only 21.
Is that enough life experience to be writing anything? Can a person's style be sufficiently mature by that age? Will an agent look at the DOB and dismiss the submission? I'd appreciate some thoughts on this!
I wrote a blog post on this last year when I saw the same question arise on Twitter. I think it's vital that young people write, and that their work is read. All people are entitled to have a voice and the more voices we have in the pot, the more varied and exciting our culture, and our literature, will be.
I'm 25 and have been working on my first fantasy novel for a little while now.
I agree with what others have said. If you have confidence in your writing ability then it will come through in the final piece as well as subsequent novels you may write.
At least that's the way I have approached it and am enjoying every minute writing the book.
Good luck!
I don't see that age should be an issue. You speak about life experience which I'm sure is appropriate for some subject matter but if you waited for the life experience to write fantasy books surely you would never get there. Fantasy, in my eyes, is more about imagination and creativity both not relevant to age at all. I can understand your concerns but I think if your work is good enough they won't see your DOB.
Dive in! Write what you love!