Female, 65, and Almost Stymied by Technology

For my entire adult life I have been a writer, and earned my living as one, first in New York City and then in Hollywood. Unfortunately that world has been undergoing drastic changes, and I, along with hundreds of older writers, have felt the impact. Many sleepless nights over the last two years have been spent agonizing about how to continue to write, and find an audience for novels. When a former student suggested a marketer, as she was doing with her newly published book of short stories, I dithered. Finally I succumbed, though I had no idea what that decision would entail. I jumped off the cliff willingly, and totally blind. Nothing I have ever done has been as difficult, frightening, or challenging. And nothing else has made me feel more alive.

But let me back track. When my first husband was hired at The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, I, of course, moved there with him, though I had no idea what the move would do to my career in New York. Having had a love affair with movies since I had seen "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" as a kid, I decided the thing for me to do was try my hand at writing a screenplay. I took out five of them from the UCLA library and tried my first pass at a screenplay using a novel I loved by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer.

Then I had an utterly Hollywood experience. My husband and I went to a party given by someone else who worked at the Taper. There I met the story editor for The Waltons. Though I didn't reveal this to her, that was one of two shows I watched on TV. Instead I talked about my new agent, the screenplay I had written to obtain same - all true; she could have checked; besides, I am congenitally honest - and told her how much I liked her show. She suggested I call her if I had any story ideas for her. I came up with five, the first in the middle of the night when I found myself sitting up in bed thinking about Grandpa Walton, and how the family might react to the heart attack I was going to inflict upon him.

That woman hired me to write my first script, sending me home from The Burbank Studio with five treatments and scripts that had been written by her husband. Thus began my career in Hollywood. I have written many scripts and taught screenwriting at both UCLA and USC. Overall I have had a satisfying and creative life. None of which prepared me for taking on the world of technology, web sites, Facebook, and other social media networks.

Because friends and colleagues were urging me to expand my work life, I asked myself, 'How bad could learning this stuff be?'

I chose the marketing woman a former student suggested, who informed me I needed a new website, one that was interactive. I had no idea what that would entail, or how much I would have to do to produce it. No one in my small town knew how to create a website using WordPress. Someone managed to put up a site, but it didn't function properly. In the meantime, I had learned how to add text to each tab, different if it was a 'page' tab or a 'post' tab, drop and drag a picture, a video, a URL. Getting a headache? So did I.

Three months have gone by. My head is still spinning. I have taken notes on all that I have learned, much of which will now change as the website is reworked by someone who does understand how to create an interactive site And the real work, the marketing, hasn't even begun. For that I will have to learn how to use a new business page at Facebook, how to tweet, formulate a power point presentation so I can speak to women's groups about my latest project and on and on.

Why should I continue? Maybe you're too old for this, you may be thinking!

My answer, after much soul searching is: because I am not dead. I am healthy, active, and very much here. I love to write. I want to work with women, write about my experiences and the experiences of my friends. It seems if I am going to continue my creative life, I am going to have to learn all this tech stuff that feels totally foreign to me, tech skills that are difficult, painful, challenging, and, face it, unpleasant. My daughters tell me Facebook will be fun. They are often right. The marketer assures me that once I learn all I have to learn, it will be easy. She reminds me how much I have already learned. And I have learned a lot. I have exercised my brain. I feel more alive then when I began. And I hate giving up.

So here I am, every day urging myself onward. If you are stymied by this new tech and social media world as I was, find someone who can help you learn about it. Do a few hours a day, not six or seven as I did. That might even be enjoyable, simply because it's new, or because it connects you with your kids, or just because it challenges your brain cells.. Trust me: you will feel proud that you conquered this new world and can be a part of it. Perhaps something you learn will even make my life easier.

Author: Nancy Alvarez

Nancy began writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and went on to write articles for magazine as diverse as The New York Times and Cosmopolitan (as Nancy Greenwald). She has written for The Waltons, as well as writing the TV movie "Sharon: Portrait of a Mistress". She wrote a memoir/workbook several years ago entitled "Little Nancy: The Journey Home", and does workshops with the combined book/workbook around the country, as well as retreats in Port Townsend, Washington.

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