Stanford Center on Longevity

Write people, not age categories. Give older characters the same range of personality, ambition, humor, sexuality, flaws, contradictions and desires as characters of any age.

Don't automatically equate age with frailty, confusion, sweetness, wisdom, stubbornness, irrelevance or helplessness.

Give older characters a future. Show people learning, working, falling in love, starting businesses, making mistakes, creating, changing their minds and pursuing new goals.

Don't limit older characters to nostalgia, loss, decline, retirement, illness or preparing for death.

Show the enormous diversity within later life. A 62-year-old, a 78-year-old and a 96-year-old occupy very different stages of life, and people of the same age vary enormously in health, resources, interests and experience.

Don't use the generic “senior citizen” character or use “elderly” as shorthand for anyone who happens to be older.

Make intergenerational relationships reciprocal. Let younger and older people teach, learn from, irritate, support, challenge and depend on one another.

Don't portray older adults only as wise mentors or dependents, and younger people only as students, helpers or rescuers.

Represent many ways of growing older. Show differences in race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, class, geography, family structure, work, health and financial circumstances.

Don't assume a single “older adult experience,” when longevity is profoundly shaped by opportunity and circumstances throughout life.

Show the systems around the character. Workplaces, healthcare, housing, education, financial systems, technology, families and communities all shape how people experience longer lives.

Don't imply that health, security or purpose in later life simply result from making the right personal choices.