5 writing quotes to inspire and encourage you

I love a great quote. I always have. Quotes from books and movies, quotes from inspirational people…anything! I think most writers feel the same. We have a love of words, and little brings us more joy than seeing words arranged into such a sentence that moves you.

Of course, quotes about writing resonate on a particular level with me. So I thought I’d share the 5 that I always come back to time and time again.

“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shovelling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” – ― Shannon Hale

I adore this quote. Writing a first draft is difficult, and it’s easy to let doubt halt your progress. But when you allow yourself to write badly, to shovel sand, you will get the basic down. And from there, you can build on the story and make it better. You add to it. You have to get enough of the basic material before you can build sandcastles.

“Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.”  – Gloria Steinem

This speaks to me so much. I am someone who must always be busy. And when I’m busy doing something, I worry that I should be busy doing something else, something more important. The reason writing is such a positive factor in my life is because when I do it, I can relax and I never think I should be doing anything more.

“I just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It’s totally for myself.” – J.K. Rowling

If you are writing for yourself, then you are writing what’s true. It is the most important thing. Don’t write what you think other people would like to read, don’t write something you don’t believe in. Writing should be for you first.

“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of. ” — Joss Whedon

Why write if not to escape or travel or experience new things? I write to live in the places I might never live, to meet the people I might never meet, to do the things I may never do. Writing is the ultimate freedom.

“A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” ― Eugene Ionesco

How true is this? We writers are always having new ideas, always being inspired. If anything, a vacation gives you even more to work with. There is no escaping from the pull of telling stories.

---

Come on writers, share your favourite quotes with me too! Drop it in the comments below, I’d love to read them.

Until then,
Keep writing,
M
x

Posting wonderful writing quotes weekly on Instagram and Twitter