41 Inspirational Writing Quotes
Just a few quotes to keep you going. You'll find Jane Yolen quotes, proverbs, Natalie Goldberg quotes, and more!
"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." ~Sylvia Plath
"I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter." ~James A. Michener
"Professional writers are only amateurs who would not quit." ~Joan Hiatt Harlow
"The wastebasket is a writer's best friend." ~Isaac Bashevis Singer
"I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed-reading accident. I hit a bookmark." ~Steven Wright
"Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck - but most of all, endurance." ~James Baldwin
"A picture book a day keeps imagination in play." ~Margot Finke
"Take out another notebook, pick up another pen, and just write, just write, just write. In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write. Say yes, stay alive, be awake. Just write. Just write. Just write."~Natalie Goldberg
"Talent is way down on the list of things you need to write; it comes in a distant fourth, after persistence, motivation, and discipline. And the reason is that "talent" is as common as mud; what's rare is the motivation to sit down and actually do something with it, the discipline to do it regularly, and the persistence to stick with it until it's finished. I know oodles of extremely talented people who will never publish anything, because they won't ever sit down and actually write anything, much less finish it." ~Patricia Wrede
"Begin to weave, and God will give you the thread." ~German proverb
"Properly, we should read for power. Man reading should be man intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand." ~Ezra Pound
"Words, like hair, shine with combing." ~Gustave Flaubert
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do - not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Exercise the writing muscle every day..." ~Jane Yolen
"I write for the same reason I breathe - because if I didn't, I would die." ~Isaac Asimov
"Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing." ~Melinda Haynes
"When we read, we start at the beginning and continue until we reach the end. When we write, we start in the middle and fight our way out." ~Vickie Karp
"Not everyone will love your work, but someone will, so keep writing, revising, and submitting." ~Lori Degman
"A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face....It is one of the few havens remaining where [your] mind can get both provocation and privacy." ~Lord Byron
"I never had any doubts about my abilities. I knew I could write. I just had to figure out how to eat while doing this." ~Cormac McCarthy
"Discipline provides the canvas. Inspiration is the paint. You create the art." ~Laurie Halse Anderson
"The original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one who nobody can imitate." ~Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand
"Who has time to read? If you're a writer, you do. Reading can unlock the mysteries of writing." ~Christopher Meeks
"My morale is starting to improve, as it always does when writing happens, and I remember that I actually CAN do it after all." ~Neil Gaiman
"Fiction is about emotional resonance, about making us feel things on a primal and visceral level." ~R.R. Martin
"We don't turn to story to escape reality, we turn to story to navigate reality." ~Lisa Cron
"A writer has many successes. Selling the piece is only an exclamation point, a spot of punctuation." ~Jane Yolen
"Think good and it will be good." ~Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
"If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you." ~Anonymous
"Be confident in your dream. Act like it's a done deal. Plan like it's already happened. Be confident God will finish what He started." ~Anonymous
"What you choose to focus on becomes your REALITY." ~Anonymous
"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." ~Steve Jobs
"Books are about change. No really they are." ~Brian Farrey
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer." ~Albert Camus
"You use a map to travel from state to state, but you use a globe to travel the world. Which would you rather use for your life?" ~Jeff Goins
"It's what you're doing when you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing that's the problem." ~Wyatt Woodsmall
"Scientists say that human beings are made of atoms, but a little bird told me that we are also made of stories." ~Eduardo Galeano
"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." ~Helen Keller
Keep on keepin' on...
