Inspirational Writing Quotes

From @savethecat - "The plot doesn't just move ahead, it spins and intensifies as it goes." 

What's your favorite writing quote?

This is Why I #Write

Staying up because of Who RU Really? By @MargoWKelly. 9 chapters in and I'm LOVING it!!! pic.twitter.com/HFYPaOTOOW
— Carmel La (@oo_carmel_oo) March 30, 2015

What Are You Waiting For?

We all have dreams and goals ... and yet, we procrastinate ... why? What are we waiting for? Watch this video. It really moves me, and I'm simply in love with this song:

Need Writing Motivation?

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You're welcome.
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IWSG: Why Settle for Average?

I've been reading a lot of great blog posts lately, and one in particular really struck me. It is so very appropriate for the Insecure Writer's Support Group:

WHY SETTLE FOR AVERAGE by Lydia Sharp

So ... check it out ... and then come back Friday for a list of four more great posts I found. :)

What's your favorite blog for inspiration? (We all need some from time to time!)

How Hard Are You Willing to Work to Achieve Your Goals?

My son is visually impaired, and so I often cringe when people say things like, "The blind leading the blind," or "Are you just blind?" I don't get offended. I know people don't mean anything bad (usually) by using these clichés, but I still just cringe, because people who say these things don't usually have any experience with being blind or having any sort of visual impairment, and as a result, their comparisons and comments are often poorly based.

With that said, here's a motivational video. I think it is more motivating if you do NOT listen to the spoken words (because the narrator uses a lot of "if you were blind" analogies). If you mute it and watch the video and ask yourself, "What am I willing to do to achieve my goals? How hard am I willing to work?" ... you may just be inspired.



But wait!

Then I found this video. If you REALLY want to be inspired to work harder to achieve your goals ... watch AND listen to this one. Simply awesome.

 

Which video did you like better?



Motivation from Neil Gaiman

I find Neil Gaiman's writing advice very motivating. He said:

"If you’re only going to write when you’re inspired, you may be a fairly decent poet, but you will never be a novelist — because you’re going to have to make your word count today, and those words aren’t going to wait for you, whether you’re inspired or not. So you have to write when you’re not “inspired.” … And the weird thing is that six months later, or a year later, you’re going to look back and you’re not going to remember which scenes you wrote when you were inspired and which scenes you wrote because they had to be written."

For more inspiration from Gaiman, check out this worthwhile post from www.brainpickings.org

What motivates you to sit down and write?

Rewards ARE Worth the Effort!

We all want our turn ... now ... and when someone or something slows us from achieving our personal goals, it is very frustrating. So what do you do when an agent rejects your query? Quit? Or press forward? What do you do when an agent or editor rejects your manuscript but provides feedback? Quit? Call them nuts? Or do you take into consideration their advice and improve your skills?

It's hard pushing forward, staying focused, not quitting ... but the rewards just might be worth the effort ... and you may be closer to your goal than you realize.

I came pretty close to quitting the query process for my writing when I decided to give it one more solid effort. How I got my agent - the long story :)

But my true inspiration is my daughter. Years ago I wrote a post: Put me in coach! I'm ready to play!

And tonight her dream came true.

The new varsity coach decided to run a "6/2" ... where two setters rotate and set from the back row only. My daughter is one of the setters on the varsity team! Her previous two coaches told her she would never play as setter. (Was there basis for the comments or just politics?) Now after lots of hard work and proving herself over and over again, she has achieved her goal! But she didn't just have a no-quit attitude, she worked hard doing everything she could to continue to improve her skills. She wanted to be ready when the opportunity arrived.

 

 

The smile on her face says it all.
She was ready, and she played great!
Love that girl. She inspires me.

What inspires you to keep pressing forward toward your goals?

Put Me in Coach!

As a writer, have you gone through the query process? Have you successfully found an agent?

At any point in the process, have you ever felt like shouting from the roof tops, "I'm ready!"

But, the agents say:
"Work on your skills."
"No thank you."
"Keep trying."

*sigh*

Have you played sports?

I feel like my daughter and I are going through the same experiences right now. I have skills. She has skills. But, the agents and coaches are busy looking at other players. We need to do something to grab their attention and not let go.

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"Put me in coach! I'm ready to play ... today! Look at me! I can be ..."



Maybe the coach or agent knows more than us, but maybe the coach or agent has personal preferences as well.

I told my daughter:
"Hustle your butt more."
"Improve your skills."
"Have the most positive attitude possible."
"And keep working at it."

That advice works just as well for those of us in the query trenches.

"Put me in coach! I'm ready to play ... today! Look at me! I can be ..."

Talent is NOTHING!

Well, okay, maybe NOT nothing ... but below is a link to a GREAT article about the fact ...


"Talent is nothing without focus and endurance," Haruki Murakami.


A perfect quote to kick me in the behind and get to the writing!

Check it out: Murakami Talent-Is-Nothing-Without-Focus-and-Endurance