Writing is like sex

A lot less fun when you're being paid for it and .......youth has the energy but age has the experience. Write what you know is a well worn adage but still true. And it stands to reason by the law of averages that an older person has ''lived'' more emotional situations that they can draw upon, even if just by dint of being longer on the planet.

You hear a lot that writing is a young persons game, and maybe that's true in some areas, ''yooof'' movies and TV maybe? But it is not a prejudice I've ever encountered. I have probably worked with upwards of 60 0r 70 writers on various shows and by far the vast majority were in their thirties and forties. In fact there were easily more at 55 than 25.

Probably the major reason for this is that it generally takes a long time to break in. So most are in their late twenties before they start to make any headway at all. I read the other day that one of the writers on the BBC Academy thingy is in her forties. And I'm not surprised. Personal experience brought to bear on a scene gives it that ring of emotional truth rather than hackneyed cliche or best guess.

So for all you oldies out there [like me] it is never too late. And remember there is always Viagara!