Sometimes the hardest part about being a writer is not the actual writing, but getting there. I remember when I first started my blog I was paralyzed by the fear of not being good enough, so much so, that for months I didn’t write anything. I couldn’t. I was scared of putting my drafts out there. I was scared of not having enough ‘polished’ work. And I was scared of people reading it. (Silly, right?)

But it was true—I was limited, not by my actual writing ability, but by my fear, my ‘busyness,’ and my excuses.

In truth, there is a writer within each of us, but it’s only when we combat our anxiety, push back against our writer’s block and say, boldly, “I am a writer.” that we actually become one. So in the spirit of inspiration, I’ve collected a few of my favorite writing quotes. These are the sentences and people that have pushed me forward; I hope, in turn, their words will give you the strength you need to pick up your pen and go.

1.

“A word after a word after a word is power.”
— Margaret Atwood

2.

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
— Joan Didion

3.

“Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.”
— Anne Sexton, The Complete Poems

4.

“Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.”
— Marianne Moore

5.

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
— Ayn Rand

6.

“The joy that isn’t shared dies young.”
— Anne Sexton

7.

“If you wait for inspiration to write you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.”
— Dan Poynter

8.

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the sh*t that weighs you down.”
— Toni Morrison

9.

“Like any artist without an art form, she became dangerous.”
— Toni Morrison

10.

“I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.”
— Toni Morrison

11.

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
— Louis L’Amour

12.

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”
— Steven King

13.

“Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.”
— Melinda Haynes

14.

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”
— John Steinbeck

15.

“You can make anything by writing.”
— C.S. Lewis

16.

“There’s always something to write about. If there’s not then you need to live life more aggressively.”
— Min Kim

17.

“Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.”
— John Steinbeck

18.

“We write to taste life in the moment and in retrospect.”
— Anais Nin

19.

“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.”
— Roald Dahl

20.

“The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you did not write.”
— Uknown

21.

“Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”
— J.K. Rowling

22.

“Writing is the painting of the voice.”
— Voltaire

23.

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”
— Martin Luther

Featured Image Credit:
David Iskander