Some Encouraging Quotes For a Despairing Writer {or anyone for that matter!}

Phew! I’ve just put to bed another work, and by that I mean completed a fourth read-through of a crime novel, keenly aware from previous experiences that two more linger in the horizon {don’t judge!}! A work is never truly complete and self-editing is an arduous process when you take it in perspective. Spell checks, grammar checks, sentence structures, ellipse usage, contractions… It all gets to be too much sometimes.

Like most writers, I have a system of editing my work, and the predictability of that system has its drawbacks on the enthusiasm scale.  If you’ve been there, tempted to hit delete in the throes of frustration, don’t despair. Help is near.

I amass quotes to help me cope with life’s burdens, and the few I’ve listed below have helped my sanity tremendously. I’ve left out the names responsible for these great words, and take no credit for them, but I hope they reel you back from the brink as often as they have done for me. Here goes!

Never be satisfied with the first draft. In fact, never be satisfied with your own stuff at all, until you’re certain it’s as good as your finite powers can enable it to be.

The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.

Be ambitious for the work and not for the reward.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Finish what you start.

Remember, writing doesn’t love you. It doesn’t care. Nevertheless, it can behave with remarkable generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others, pass it on.

Only bad writers think that their work is good.

Don’t wait for inspiration. Discipline is key.

Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it!

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.

Be without fear. This is impossible, but let the small fears drive your rewriting and set aside the large ones until they behave – then use them, maybe even write them. Too much fear and all you’ll get is silence.

Now shrug off your melancholy and get cracking on whatever it is that needs done to transport you to a higher plane of excellence.

Great Bite?

Sweet and sour pork rinds. Yum yum!

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