--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Finally, in my early 30s, I started…" description: "\"Finally, in my early 30s, I started writing fiction for the first time as an adult. That felt so scary, and I spent a few years feeling miserably 'behi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/julia-glass-3667_adult_finally-in-my-early-30s-i-started-writin_1094213.jpg" --- # Finally, in my early 30s, I started writing fiction for… ![“Finally, in my early 30s, I started writing fiction for the first time as an adult. That felt so scary, and I spent a few years feeling miserably 'behind' my high-achieving friends. But I persevered and obviously have no regrets.” quote by Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/julia-glass-3667_adult_finally-in-my-early-30s-i-started-writin_1094213.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/julia-glass-3667_adult_finally-in-my-early-30s-i-started-writin_1094213.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/julia-glass-3667_adult_finally-in-my-early-30s-i-started-writin_1094213.jpg) > “Finally, in my early 30s, I started writing fiction for the first time as an adult. That felt so scary, and I spent a few years feeling miserably 'behind' my high-achieving friends. But I persevered and obviously have no regrets.” [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Starting a creative pursuit later in life can feel daunting, especially when comparing to younger peers, yet perseverance leads to fulfillment and no regrets. **In simple terms:** Starting writing later felt scary but rewarding. Key Takeaway Embrace new challenges regardless of age. Themes self‑growth creativity perseverance comparison Mood reflective inspired Type personal narrative motivational When to use this quote - writing a novel - joining a writers’ group - sharing work with friends - overcoming fear of judgment Key Concepts late‑blooming career change self‑acceptance Questions to Reflect On - What creative goal have you delayed? - How can you reframe “behind” as a unique advantage? A Different Perspective Success may still involve self‑doubt and external pressure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adult/) [Behind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behind/) [Early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early/) [Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Few](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/few/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Finally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finally/) [First](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends/) [No regrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-regrets/) [Obviously](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obviously/) [Regrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regrets/) [Scary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scary/) [Spent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spent/) [Started](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started/) [Started Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started-writing/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fiction/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-feeling-366681/) ## Related quotes > [In college, I'd gone abroad to get away from a campus where I felt I didn't fit in. 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Longyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-b-longyear/) > [I stopped writing fiction the moment I started writing songs, and I miss it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-shears/i-stopped-writing-fiction-the-moment-i-started-writing-songs-and-i/) [Jake Shears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-shears/) > [It ended up being a very good thing, because they finally started writing for the character, and I realized that you have to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-ashford/it-ended-up-being-a-very-good-thing-because-they-finally-started/) [Matthew Ashford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-ashford/) > [I've spent most of my life trying to wear a persona that didn't quite fit and when I started writing books, it was like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-ve-spent-most-of-my-life-trying-to-wear-a-persona-that-didn-t-quite/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [Till the time I found a creative outlet, I was trying to be extra creative at business, which would always put me in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwin-sanghi/till-the-time-i-found-a-creative-outlet-i-was-trying-to-be-extra/) [Ashwin Sanghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwin-sanghi/) > [If you are have going days,months,years feeling unloved to someone,its time to move on.God has something better for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariane-corbito/if-you-are-have-going-days-months-years-feeling-unloved-to-someone/) [Mariane Corbito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariane-corbito/) > [“No matter that they had been together for years, always a feeling of formality when they first saw each other again, even if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatjana-soli/no-matter-that-they-had-been-together-for-years-always-a-feeling-of/) [Tatjana Soli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatjana-soli/) > [Sometimes life is very mean: a person can spend days, weeks, months and years without feeling new. Then, when a door opens - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/sometimes-life-is-very-mean-a-person-can-spend-days-weeks-months-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [A lot of people have wondered what Ive been up to. I retired from my career after 24 years. My feeling was that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristy-mcnichol/a-lot-of-people-have-wondered-what-ive-been-up-to-i-retired-from-my/) [Kristy McNichol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristy-mcnichol/) > [I was not a very good mother. I was always running out to do a movie or something. If I had to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-woodward/i-was-not-a-very-good-mother-i-was-always-running-out-to-do-a-movie/) [Joanne Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-woodward/) > [I don't know where I'm going to be in three years. Because I have the feeling that the future is so full of possibilities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-tautou/i-don-t-know-where-i-m-going-to-be-in-three-years-because-i-have-the/) [Audrey Tautou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-tautou/) > [Too many years of feeling degraded now hatred's the only feeling that comes~~~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/too-many-years-of-feeling-degraded-now-hatred-s-the-only-feeling-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Julia Glass > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In every novel, I write about something - a place, an experience, an emotion - with which I'm intimately familiar, but it's also crucial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/in-every-novel-i-write-about-something-a-place-an-experience-an/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In my head, at least, the business of spinning stories has no closing time. Twists in my characters' lives, glimpses of their secrets, obstacles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/in-my-head-at-least-the-business-of-spinning-stories-has-no-closing/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [I am not opposed to e-readers. Any technology that encourages the reading of literature is a good thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/i-am-not-opposed-to-e-readers-any-technology-that-encourages-the/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [A good novel is an out-of-self experience. It lifts you off the ground so that you have the sensation of flying. It says, 'Look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/a-good-novel-is-an-out-of-self-experience-it-lifts-you-off-the-ground/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [“Some might have referred to Vince, Buck and Calvin as "ordinary fellows" or "salt of the earth". Such terms are merely code for men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/some-might-have-referred-to-vince-buck-and-calvin-as-ordinary-fellows/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [Call me territorial or narcissistic, but I avoid novels about people who share my vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/call-me-territorial-or-narcissistic-but-i-avoid-novels-about-people/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [Now is almost always the better choice. You never know about later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/now-is-almost-always-the-better-choice-you-never-know-about-later/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [“On Thursday, the sandwiches Greenie made were pork tenderloins with chipotle mustard, the soup a puree of beets and pears with Beaujolais wine and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/on-thursday-the-sandwiches-greenie-made-were-pork-tenderloins-with/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [Most inexperienced cooks believe, mistakenly, that a fine cake is less challenging to produce than a fine souffle or mousse. I know, however, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/most-inexperienced-cooks-believe-mistakenly-that-a-fine-cake-is-less/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [I have struggled for decades now with the fear of and resistance to change - mostly in the realms of technology, transportation, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/i-have-struggled-for-decades-now-with-the-fear-of-and-resistance-to/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [“None of this Mad Mario showmanship- orange clogs and Bermuda shorts fit for Babar, sweetbreads garnished with squash blossoms stuffed with cheese from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/none-of-this-mad-mario-showmanship-orange-clogs-and-bermuda-shorts/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [“Bet you did not know that in Mexico they call a Palomino an Isabella. Or that George Washington's warhorse was an Arab named Magnolia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/bet-you-did-not-know-that-in-mexico-they-call-a-palomino-an-isabella/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [“Always more to learn, that's the pain and the pleasure”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/always-more-to-learn-that-s-the-pain-and-the-pleasure/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [“Well, yes, there were quite a lot of books throughout, tumbling out of haphazardly placed bookshelves, stacked beneath chairs, beside beds, even in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/well-yes-there-were-quite-a-lot-of-books-throughout-tumbling-out-of/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) [Explore all 125 Julia Glass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) ## More Adult quotes > [I feel as though I've fooled the world into thinking I'm an adult and now they're letting me procreate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-murray/i-feel-as-though-i-ve-fooled-the-world-into-thinking-i-m-an-adult-and/) [George Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-murray/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. 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Jodie Foster was the exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lester/child-actors-going-on-to-become-adult-actors-never-really-works-apart/) [Mark Lester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lester/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [“Oh, I don’t mean to infer that you’re not a great guy. I’m sure you’re the exception to the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaye-frances/oh-i-don-t-mean-to-infer-that-you-re-not-a-great-guy-i-m-sure-you-re/) [Jaye Frances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaye-frances/) [Browse all 1,153 Adult quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adult/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Finally, in my early 30s, I started writing fiction for the first time as an adult. 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