He started the Hobbit at 38 and had been writing fantasy stories for years prior to that. He was doing the things that would lead up to LotR for decades prior to starting that specific work.
But yes, just because you haven’t created a genre defining book series by 45 doesn’t mean there isn’t still time.
The Hobbit was just a bedtime story at first. Every journey begins with the first step out the door. And it’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.
He didn’t intend for his stories to become published or widespread. He was encouraged by others to submit The Hobbit, and when it did very well, he went from there. Which I guess is as inspiring as the OP’s meme. If Tolkien needed a push to get going, what’s to say any other reluctant author isn’t the same and just needs that first success?
He started the Hobbit at 38 and had been writing fantasy stories for years prior to that. He was doing the things that would lead up to LotR for decades prior to starting that specific work.
But yes, just because you haven’t created a genre defining book series by 45 doesn’t mean there isn’t still time.
The Hobbit was just a bedtime story at first. Every journey begins with the first step out the door. And it’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.
He didn’t intend for his stories to become published or widespread. He was encouraged by others to submit The Hobbit, and when it did very well, he went from there. Which I guess is as inspiring as the OP’s meme. If Tolkien needed a push to get going, what’s to say any other reluctant author isn’t the same and just needs that first success?
The point is that he was already writing stories in a rich world he developed long before he started working on LotR.
It’s nice to point this out because we focus a lot on prodigies or early achievers, and for most of us life doesn’t work out that cleanly.