As a writer, whenever I see good quotes, I melt a little bit inside. I love quotes and I collect them, especially when they’re about writing and poetry and reading. These quotes inspire me. They give me fuel when I feel down about writing and this passion I have chosen to pursue. So I’ve compiled a list of my favorite quotes about writing to inspire all of you as we descend into the new year.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou
“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov
“After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” – Philip Pullman
“If a story is in you, it has got to come out.” – William Faulkner
“Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when if feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.” – Stephen King
“Read, read, read. 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. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” – William Faulkner
“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” – Ray Bradbury
“The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.” – Mark Twain
“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” – Anne Lamott
“The writer is, by nature, a dreamer – a conscious dreamer.” – Carson McCullers
“Write like you’ll live forever … Everything eternal happens in a spare room at 3 a.m.” – Ron Dakron
“Writing is the thing that props me up.” – Horton Foote
“Writing starts with living.” – LL Barkat
“I write not because I want to but because I am destined to.” – Jules Haigler
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences.” – Sylvia Plath
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter, and bleed.” – Ernest Hemingway
Hopefully, some of these quotes will help inspire, continue to inspire, or push you to continue following your passion. Hopefully, it will spur some of you to write, to find time to pick up a pen and tell your story. Even when it sometimes doesn’t feel like you’re worth it, or if your story is worth it, it is. Everyone’s story deserves to be told. Everyones.
Featured image via Darius Bashar on Unsplash
