When you’re experiencing frustration with your writing, it’s important to remind yourself that we’ve all been there before; and I mean everyone. That’s right—even the Stephen King’s and Ernest Hemingway’s of the world. Which is why it’s always a good idea to turn to those famous writers (and their quotes) for inspiration.
Here are 18 inspirational writing quotes:
Reading Motivation
“Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write.”
—William Faulkner
“Always [keep] two books in [your] pocket: one to read, one to write in.”
— Robert Louis Stevenson
“A man will turn over half a library to make one book.”
— Samuel Johnson
“Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.”
― Lisa See
Writer’s Block Motivation
“Everybody walks past 1,000 story ideas every day. Writers are the ones who see 5 or 6 of them. Most people don’t see any.”
— Orson Scott
“If you wait for inspiration to write you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.”
— Dan Poynter
“I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.”
— Pearl S. Buck
Writing Inspo
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
— Robin Williams
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”
— Martin Luther
Self-Doubt Inspo:
A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”
— Richard Bach
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
― Terry Pratchett
“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
― Sylvia Plath
“You fail only if you stop writing.”
— Ray Bradbury
“My breakthrough with the first book came through persistence because a lot [of people] turned it down.”
— J.K. Rowling
“I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.”
— Sylvia Plath
“I think that you have to believe in your destiny; that you will succeed, you will meet a lot of rejection and it is not always a straight path, there will be detours — so enjoy the view.”
— Michael York
Have any inspirational quotes of your own? Comment them below!
