13 Quotes to Encourage Writers to Keep Going

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In: The Writing Life

Welcome to the Writing and Wellness annual quote round-up!

Below you’ll find the best quotes from the authors featured on the site this year.

This is the seventh time I’ve put these together. They’ve all been popular posts and I love how they capture certain overarching themes in the writing life.

You can view past quote pages at the following links:

This year, writers were even more encouraging than usual. You’ll find a lot of motivational quotes here that reflect these writers’ desire for other writers to succeed.

How nice is that?

“Do not listen to the voices that tell you that you aren’t good enough—whether they come from the outside (a teacher, a parent, a friend) or the inside (your own self doubts).

If you feel the urge to write, if you have stories to tell, then the seed is already there and it just needs to be nurtured by the right mentors, guides, and editors.

Follow that dream and don’t ever look back.”
~Kristy McGinnis

Writing Dreams

“I’ve wanted to be an author for so much of my life. I’m living proof that dreams do come true, through persistence, effort, help from friends, and luck. Please don’t give up on your dreams. Walt Disney was right when he said if you can dream it, you can do it.”
~Wendy Kendall

“For me, writing is as natural as breathing and the longer I go without being creative, the worse I feel. Sometimes the only way to release those blocks is by actually sitting down and writing out the frustration.”
~Diane Bator

Writing Typewriter

“Throughout all of my health challenges, writing has really given me focus and helped me remember that I have so much to still do in my life. More words to write, more lives to affect. I want to continue to be here, living my dreams. Which means I need to continue to fight. Writing has been my anchor.”
~Tracey Shearer

“I truly believe you can do anything you want to do if you’re prepared to work for it. It will happen easier for others, but so long as you persevere and don’t get bogged down by comparisons, you will absolutely will succeed.”
~A. S, Thornton

“I keep writing because it’s what I do best. I believe in God-given talents, and as far as I can tell, writing is mine.

To be clear, saying I have a God-given talent doesn’t mean I think I’m destined to be the world’s greatest writer. It simply means that I’m supposed to write. It’s the only thing I do where there is no sense of time.

When I’m writing, hours pass like seconds. I love that surreal feeling.
~Susan Ouellette

“I wish I would have known this as a young writer: always think your writing sucks. If you are really committed to being an author, this mainframe will do one thing—always make you strive to be better.
~Jason Offut

“Yes, some of my works have been rejected, but I write for myself, have fun with it, and don’t worry about it.”
~Gail Cushman

“If you have that creative urge to write, then do it. And do it with complete commitment so that at the end of your life you can say, ‘Look what I did!'”
~Susan Wingate

Dance and Write“Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Paint, paint, paint. Dance, dance, dance. Practice, practice, practice. My mother used to say, “Good, better, best…never let it rest…until the good is better and the better is best.”
~Becky Lyles

“Unless you’re Steven King or J.K. Rowling, rejection goes with the territory, and I’m always confident the next publisher will accept my manuscript. Or maybe the next. Or . . .”
~Mark Reutlinger

“Absolutely—do it. But make sure you’re in it for the right reasons. You have to love writing. You have to love creating a story, creating characters. If your goal is strictly money or to become that NY Times bestselling author, you could be setting yourself up for grave disappointment.”
~C. S. McDonald

“Be true to your own voice. Tell the stories that you need to tell. They will haunt you if you do not.”
~J. G. MacLeod