Writing Older Characters

More life = more complications

With some regularity, I see posts on my bookish social media to the effect of, “Please, for the love of god, give us main characters who are over forty!” And these posts always generate a lot of engagement and reinforcement. Even thirty-five would do. Characters who have lived a little.

I have written two such novels, and it’s immensely gratifying. But writing these characters comes with its own set of issues. Now, I’m looking at writing a character who may be (gasp) at or near fifty, and the thing is, life is long and complicated. Writing a person like that comes with a host of decisions that aren’t usually relevant to a character who is, say, twenty-five.

My brother, myself, and my sister on the night of my first book launch. We are 59, 53, and 57 respectively.

More Life = More History

Did they marry? More than once? How’d that go? Are they still married? If divorced, how’d that shape their life. And if they didn’t, how are they feeling about being single at an age when it’s not the nor…