My Favorite Quotes on Writing

Elie Wiesel: Write only if you cannot live without writing. Write only what you alone can write.

Henry David Thoreau: Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.

Sholem Asch: Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.

Jules Renard: Writing is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to those who have none.

Jack London: You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

F. Scott Fitzgerald: You don't write because you want to say something. You write because you've got something to say.

William Shakespeare: If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me.

The Courage to Write

Often the first thing that writers struggle with is the first thing that's necessary TO write: having courage. The stereotypical image of a writer sitting isolated in a room for days at a time didn't just materialize out of nowhere. Writers do tend to be a little more introspective and timid when it comes to one-on-one contact. They want to release their feelings and inhibitions on the page, instead of in public. But a writer can't grow if he's isolated and his craft won't benefit from self-imposed solitary confinement. The world is your canvas and to create vibrant characters and rich settings, you'll have to get out there! Here's a few other ideas to mull around if this is your nemesis:

*The more you write and find acceptance, the easier it will be to accept criticism when it does come and stand up against it when it's unfair.
* Giving in to your fears will only make it more difficult to write and so you have to learn to cope with them, whether it's speaking in public or sending out that first manuscript.
* Don't leap aimlessly and without a plan or you may just live out your worst fear and fail. Have goals and work towards them, letting failure merely be speedbumps on your road to success.
* In the end, believe in your writing enough that nothing can defeat it.