Welcome to the Writing and Wellness annual “writing quotes” round-up!
Below you’ll find the best quotes from the authors featured on the site this year.
It’s hard to believe, but this is the tenth year 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:
- 9 Writing Quotes on Persistence
- 14 Writing Quotes on Rejection and Anxiety
- 13 Quotes to Encourage Writers to Keep Going
- 14 Quotes to Help You Trust Your Creative Voice
- 12 Motivating Quotes to Keep You Writing No Matter What
- 24 Inspiring and Encouraging Quotes for Writers
- 30 Quotes to Inspire a New Year of Writing
- 30 Quotes to Boost a Writer’s Spirit
- Quotes to Encourage, Motivate, and Reassure Writers
This year, writers talked about the urge to write, ignoring the inner editor during the first draft, and refusing to quit. Thank you to all the indie authors featured for your thoughts!
We’re all better when we can talk about the stuff nobody talks about; we don’t feel so crazy, and we can help each other. I knew from past experiences that books about struggles can help make readers feel less alone and more optimistic, and maybe even be part of their healing.
I’ve read all the craft books, I’ve taken tons of classes, even done writing meditations. They do help, but in the end, you have to just write the story that wants to be told.
Writing can seem like having an illness.
The writer carries around something that mainly they are trying to get rid of, like a bad cough that won’t go away. If they have a story that’s never been told – great! If they can help others by sharing their story – even better!
Until the writer publishes, they will be plagued by ideas and feelings that won’t leave them alone. Countless hours will be spent on theme, syntax and clever plot twists. Rejection from editors, publishers, and critics await them at every corner.
One wonders why a writer would attempt such an endeavor, considering the totality of the effort required. A basic response would be that they have no choice, unless they want to succumb to the illness that is trying to work its way through their very being.
Most of all, don’t give up!! If I was less determined, I could’ve given up at least once a year. If you love to write, write. If you want your books in the hands of readers, build a thick skin and be resilient!
For me, it’s helpful to throw out my inner editor while writing the rough draft (tossing out criticism from self and others, bad reviews haunting you like a song caught on repeat, trying to please the outside world). Instead, I try to get lost in the story.
I don’t think about what people will think about my book while I’m writing the rough draft; I think of how to get lost in the daydream and HOW to tag along with my characters on the adventure. It really is the ultimate game of playing house or Barbie or whatever it was you did back when you were a kid and were really in touch with your imagination.
Ultimate fantasies sell, and because you are human, your fantasy is very similar to other people’s fantasies and therefore will connect with your readers too, so get lost in your story because it will make it better and more compelling in the end.
Although most of my craft experience is memoir, I also encounter healing in my fiction writing. My characters are influenced by my own experiences and those around me. When we spend time putting together characters on paper, real or imagined, we grow to forgive their flaws and see their humanity.
The same can be said for the self. I made many mistakes as a young alcoholic, some of which I felt could never be forgiven. I also was wronged in more ways than I cared to acknowledge. If you’re anything like me, forgiveness doesn’t come easily. It’s something that’s won through time, space, and processing, and a long-term writing practice offers that opportunity.
If you’re contemplating writing a horror story but aren’t sure where to start, consider jotting down some things that make you fearful or uncomfortable. Then, pick one or two of them and let your imagination run with them.
For example, if cemeteries disturb you, what about a cemetery that the living can never depart from once they’ve passed through the gates? What alternate reality might exist in such a place? How would the most reluctant visitors cope, or try to? How might they interact with the dead, and with other living visitors? What conflicts or connections might arise?
What you are saying, writing, and creating is important, or you wouldn’t be spending so much time and energy on it. Be proud about what you’ve come up with, and be tenacious—not obnoxious—in sharing that message with your family, friends, and online because you never know who needs to hear your message, and the impact of that.