Turning to Other Writers for Wisdom and Comfort

I’m in the middle of a big, ambitious book, something completely new for me. Most of the time, I’m excited, and I think it’s really turning out well, but then, like a lot of writers, I doubt myself and think, “What if I’m just fooling myself, and this is really just a mass of wasted words that I’ll have to pitch into the trash?” Because, of course, whenever you stretch yourself and try something new and ambitious, failure is always a very real possibility. If you’re not willing to try and fail, you’re not going to grow and become the best writer you can be.

When I’m looking for reassurance that what I’m experiencing is something my favorites have successfully dealt with or just for comfort or inspiration, I turn to quotes from writers. I’ve been collecting such quotes since I was in my teens. The handwritten journals I’ve kept since my early twenties that fill three entire bookshelves at my house are larded with things writers have said that I’ve found pithy or useful and recorded. Here are some of my favorites.

“'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” – E.L. Doctorow

"The work is greater than my fear."--Audre Lorde

“If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked.” – Anne Lamott

"I take writing terribly seriously, and sometimes that just gets in my way. Writing is about the Shadow, which is about play. I just have to learn that again. And, in my own life, it’s like I can’t learn that I’ll rise to the occasion. I do rise to the occasion, but I’m never sure that’s going to happen."

--Sue Grafton

"Write about the things that get under your skin and keep you up at night." --Khaled Houssani

“There are no rules except those you create page by page.” --Stuart Wood

 “You see, paper is magic: Making marks on it changes your brain. So, don't sit around trying to think your way out of problems, write your way out of them. The best place to find answers is on a piece of paper or a glowing phosphorus screen.”--Scott Westerfeld

"Writer’s block is having too much time on your hands. If you have a limited amount of time to write, you just sit down and do it. You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page." --Jodi Picoult

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” – Madeleine L'Engle

“A book comes and says, 'Write me.' My job is to try to serve it to the best of my ability, which is never good enough, but all I can do is listen to it, do what it tells me and collaborate.” – Madeleine L'Engle

“It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.” – P.D. James

“A work in progress quickly becomes feral. It reverts to a wild state overnight... it is a lion growing in strength. You must visit it every day and reassert your mastery over it.” – Annie Dillard

“One word after another. That’s the only way that novels get written and, short of elves coming in the night and turning your jumbled notes into Chapter Nine, it’s the only way to do it.” – Neil Gaiman

"Turn off your cell phone. Honestly, if you want to get work done, you’ve got to learn to unplug. No texting, no email, no Facebook, no Instagram." --Nathan Englander

And from the inimitable Stephen King, just a few of the pages of writing quotes I have:

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

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”

“To write is human, to edit is divine.”

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

“Just remember that Dumbo didn't need the feather; the magic was in him.”

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

And to end with another Neil Gaiman quote: “Do what only you can do.”

What do you do when you’re breaking new ground and faced with writer’s insecurities? Do you turn to quotes from other writers for inspiration or comfort in your writer’s journey? What are some of your favorite writer’s quotes?