Because of job cuts, I’ve recently returned to the freelance hustle in my mid-50s – and I’ve encountered lots of negativity and defeatism. My fellow 50-somethings are lacking confidence, can’t cope with new tools and software, think editors only want young talent, that AI is making them redundant…

I felt all this, too, at first. But after a few weeks of putting myself out there, the work has started to come in. Persistence paid off, and even some patchy networking with old connections made a difference. And it occurred to me that older people have quite a few advantages in this game:

•    More contacts to draw from. 
Having worked as a writer my entire career, I realised that I have amassed lots of contacts and different networks to tap. One potential new client is someone I worked with about 10 years ago, whom I messaged out of the blue via LinkedIn. Another is the client of the brother-in-law of a former coworker whom I first hired at an agency 16 years ago!

•    An awareness of the cyclical nature of content 
The longer you’re in the game, the more you see that ideas come round again. They can be re-purposed or re-angled for new markets and new topical hooks. I often find myself pitching stories to younger editors who find topics interesting or different, not realising I may be drawing on things that were first in the air 20 years ago or more (and no doubt cycled before that, too).

•    More versatility and material for ideas
As an older person, you have lived longer, seen more things. You may have children and even grandchildren, have bought and sold homes, lost and won big money and great jobs, held positions of responsibility, written books, experienced tragedies and triumphs, travelled and achieved, pursued interests, gathered a wide range of friends and contacts. All this rich experience is grist to your idea-generation mill.

•    More perspective on the editor’s role 
As an older writer you’ve probably been on the commissioner/editor side of the fence, too. So you understand that editors want writers who are straightforward to deal with, who are pragmatic and flexible about amends, respect deadlines and don’t chase for updates on their pitches. They don’t just seek good work, they also want a professional relationship with a grown-up. Unless you are very famous, the editor-writer relationship is weighted on their side, and you need to respect that.

•    More resilience to roll with the punches of the freelance life
Disappointment is hard-wired into the freelance life. In the last two years, I have dealt with a publisher who went bankrupt two weeks before my book (18 months of work!) was due out, and my role being made redundant just before Christmas. Markets that always gave me work have closed, and my pitches and proposals have been quietly ignored by several hundred websites, magazines, and presses.

But the older I get, the less these things sting. They are all part of the game, and they only fire my will to keep going. ‘Rejections are fuel’, as they say. I am always subbing things because, to misquote Gary Player, ‘the more I sub, the luckier I get’. Each setback only makes the next acceptance sweeter.

•    Greater resourcefulness to turn setbacks into positives
A little ingenuity and resilience can turn some of these setbacks to your advantage. When my memoir was put on ice because of bankruptcy, I sat down and re-wrote it as a novel – and sold it to another publisher. I spent months successfully chasing down an audiobook deal that had once disappeared into limbo. And I re-negotiated my unemployment threat into reduced hours in a role for other companies within my employer’s group.

When I was younger, I might not have thought to attempt such things because I’d have been too busy feeling sorry for myself. But at my age, I have no more hoots to give about the things you can’t change. Onwards is the only way.

AUTHOR: Dan Brotzel’s latest novel is Thank You For The Days