Originally posted by Renee Scattergood:
Sometimes I can use a little motivation. It can be because I’m not feeling well or having a bad pain day, or my brain fog is making things difficult for me. Sometimes I need to be reminded of why I’m writing in the first place or encouraged to keep going. Whatever the reason, sometimes it helps me to read inspirational quotes from other authors. So, I’m sharing a few here that you may want to save to motivate yourself, whether you’re an author or want to be one, but you’re too scared to get started:
If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write. ~ Somerset Maugham
There’s so much emphasis placed on writing technique that sometimes the passion and feeling that should be there goes out the window. Technique is only important as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the story.
It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly. ~ C. J. Cherryh
This is one I have to remind myself of every time I sit down to write. I always try to edit as I go, but when I catch myself doing it, I have to stop and remind myself there’s time for that later.
It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous. ~ Robert Benchley
This one just makes me laugh when I think about how people say you have to have the talent to make a career of something like writing.
Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer. ~ Ray Bradbury
Like the one before, this one reminds me that if I just keep writing, eventually I’ll get there.
I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly. ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs
Another one that reminds me not to worry so much about technique.
Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. ~ E. L. Doctorow
For some reason, this one makes me think of just slowing down and enjoying the journey. Sometimes, I’m in such a rush to get to the end I forget to do that.
You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money’s in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed. ~ Larry Niven
I stopped writing short stories while I was working on my Shadow Stalker serial, and I really regretted it. Writing short stories regularly helps my creativity more than writing longer works. I guess it’s because when you’re stuck in the same story all the time, you end up swallowed in that world and it can often become stale. As much as I love writing Shadow Stalker, I started feeling like my whole writing career was all about that and it was getting harder to write. When I started working on short stories again earlier this year, it really boosted my creative flow.
Do you have any quotes that inspire you? I’d love to hear them. Please share them in the comments below.
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