It's hard to be a good writer and a young writer

One of the biggest social media scams out there is the rise of young guys proclaiming to be experts in marketing, writing, or just about anything else you can imagine. We’ve all seen them, and we know it’s true. Look, I’m not here to crap on anyone, but I take issue with anyone in their early twenties dishing out expert advice based on checks notes months of experience.

This is particularly true for the art of writing.

Writing is a funny thing. You’d think it is simply the art of taking down your thoughts and organizing them on paper, but it’s not. It’s a lot more than that.

Writing is the ultimate medium for the shared human experience. It creates a connection that isn’t done any other way. And while there is the potential for young people to be good writers, so much of the art has to do with your own experiences that it’s hard to write well with little life experience.

As they say, there is no substitute for experience.

Also, I believe that writing is one of the very best crafts for those of us who are not so young to hone in on. Tech is more or less a young man’s game (don’t @ me; I mean this in broad, general terms). Men who are getting along toward middle age have some distinct advantages in this space. We are experienced in something, and there is a writing niche for everything.

In fact, the odds are good that, as you approach 40, you are probably proficient or good at several things. This is to your advantage, so you ought to take advantage of it. Oh, and a quick clarification: when I talk about writing here, I mean it vocationally. Should you write for your own sake (journaling)? Probably. I don’t ever get around to it, but we all should.

Middle-aged dudes, you have knowledge and experience from your entire adulthood to draw from. For instance, one of my main niches is aviation. I started taking flying lessons when I was 15 (true story), so, at 41, I’ve got over 26 years of experience in aviation.

Your mileage may vary, but you’ve got knowledge and skills in that brain of yours that youth cannot replicate, and writing is your weapon of choice. So go forth and weaponize your knowledge.