Why Inkspired Magic Starts at 60
It’s Impossible to Write Certain Stories Until You Get Here
Of all the Substack publications and gin joints, you had to walk in here.
If you are not yet 60 you have no idea why that first line matters. If you’ve watched Casa Blanca with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, you have memorized the lines of this 3X Oscar-winning movie, released during World War II. That movie and Inkspired is all about the story and our destiny. Inkspired is about “go big or go home” and it’s everything you are (so far) and will become—big, bold, curious, wise, caring, smart, strategic, and intentional.
What makes us so damn desirable and fascinating at a time in our life when we thought we might slow down or get off the stage? What is the magic energy in this new Substack community that gives us new creativity and more reasons to write?
We are barely off the launch pad and Inkspired is on fire. Subscribers, comments, notes, and referrals—all up, thanks to you and all of the intelligent, curious people in your network.
Better Questions Create Magic in This Community
Conversations with the first writers to jump with enthusiasm into Inkspired tell us we are a generation of early adopters and achievers. We see this as a community that happens to connect through stories. It is a safe, dedicated place worthy of our precious, fleeting time. That’s a big deal because the digital world is overloaded with newsletters that say they are a community but we see it’s a front for their sales pages, their overnight success stories, and the launch of the next thing they want us to buy.
Three members of our community helped me with a deep-dive conversation this week about the magic that starts with writers past 60. We each come from decades of lived experiences, relationships, career choices, and decisions loaded with risk.
The whole point of featuring what they had to say is to get you to come forward and participate with every fiber of your being in the stories and building of this community.
I invited Mike Searles, Mentor Mike Substack, to generate questions that would resonate with the profile and interests of our subscribers and the 40,000 others Maryan identified as actively seeking what Inkspired provides. I showed Mike my draft of possible questions and asked if he could make them better or offer up some of his own.
Here are the questions and I invite you to pile on with questions you’ve used or can think of today that would create great conversations and connections with each other:
In your reading, have you noticed specific intentions or traits for writers over 60?
Do writers shift their reasons for writing as they travel through their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s?
Are we writing to be seen, to make a point, or to get a hug?
Are writers over 60 more interested in getting their story out of their brain, than increasing subscriber numbers?
Is it true that writers past 60 have less patience for technology, tools, and tutorials?
Do writers past 60 want to write for all generations or mostly for kindred spirits?
Are we still out to save the world or has the pleasure of intelligent company become more valuable?
Mike got so excited about these questions that he wrote an article with his answers. Before we open Mike’s kimono to reveal his response, may we hear from you and others about questions you think will bring out the stories members might contribute to this writing schmoozefest called Inkspired?
We will feature Mike’s answers in a future post and this one was so great, it’s worth a peek. The Question: Do writers shift their reasons for writing as they travel through their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s? Mike wrote: Yes. The reasons evolve.
30s: Writing to prove something.
40s: Writing to figure things out.
50s: Writing for clarity.
60+: Writing for truth and legacy.
By this stage, we’re not writing to impress. We’re writing to say what matters.
What Stories Are Impossible Until Now?
Gloria Christie writes the GloriaChristieReports Newsletter and has already lived a life full of adventure and stories that had so much alignment and intersection with my background in journalism, science, the University of Missouri, and multiple professions, that I trusted her to help me build this article.
Why write when you are over 60? Gloria said, “I cannot not write. I wake up with the urge to write and live in the space of creation.”
We write because there is an audience. We know there is work ahead to get in touch with everyone who might love Inkspired, with us.
Gloria continued, “ I like to write with a twist of humor if at all possible. I amuse myself and hopefully one or two of my readers. I alter my Substack articles between the art of growing older and smiling more than frowning -- even when you land upside down in a rock garden under your weighty electric go-cart. (Ask me how I did this.) The beauty of our community is that there are many of us. That makes our voices louder and our dollars just as valuable should we decide to withdraw them from a large corporation or a government problem for a specified and important reason.”
Gloria’s strength is political journalism. We need her wisdom around the distractions, drama, and writer paralysis that current events can cause. She said, “Listening to the news sets us up to fall into the fear pit because the news is designed to hook us, to pull us into the drama of daily breaking news.
“As we age, we can either step onto the fear treadmill or choose a different path, a powerful path. We can hold up our one dollar and come together with others and their one dollar bills. All of a sudden we have 50,000 dollar bills waving in the wind just ready to tempt one business, one politician, or one conspiracy theorist to do the right thing, to comply with what we want. That $50,000 will soon turn into $50 million. We can support one good piece of legislation, one great school, or one inspired community activist with that same money. After all, it is true that money talks.”
Gloria shows us the bridge between her writing and issues important to all writers, all themes on Substack and Medium. She continued, “All we have to do is take one dollar, find our community, and speak out. It sounds complicated, but it is simple. And this is just one example. There are too many to list here. But I'll come back, dip into that inkwell, and write further.”
The more you seek out and listen to writers past 60, the more you see the stories impossible until now. A retired school administrator who just joined our community had these thoughts to stir more stories from you, our members.
He said “Many of us never intended or wanted to call ourselves coaches, therapists, or healers. We become naturally good at that because we have no further need to impress anyone or prove anything. We have become better listeners. I especially love to listen to college students and I do so without interrupting them. They have so much we can still learn and they see things very differently than we did at that age.”
He continued, “Past 60, nobody needs you anymore. Your job as a parent ended when children became independent. Whether or not you declare retirement, the work situation already planned for your replacement, or has changed so much that you struggle to stay engaged.
“You go to more funerals than weddings. What you once celebrated with the bride and groom as bonds “for as long as we both shall live” shifts to a support role for the spouse, still alive. Even that changes the story because your friend is no longer a spouse and the IRS and insurance companies return them to the single category.”
Is It About Marketing or Storytelling?
Pen2Profit is the Substack for you if making money as a writer is your priority and you seek assistance with marketing and building a business. Writers of all ages gather there and the vibe is not the same as Inkspired. The vision for Inkspired is stated in the first post with strong encouragement for you to participate. If your vision is the same, different, more expansive, or less complex, please use the form for submissions. You can also send an email directly to me, Georgia Patrick, the co-founder with Maryan Pelland.
At my core, I am a storyteller. A journalist and historian of everyday people. Words possess magic, and that magic is my home. I could never get lost for long when there are more stories to tell.
Georgia, your article is beautifully written and a pleasure to read on this day when snowflakes float to the ground and my fireplace cheerfully sparks. I enjoy how you weave your words with the finesse of a classical music director. Thank you. Thank you.Thank you.
Wonderful call for writers who embrace where they are and what they have to offer. I’m honored to be among you.