It strikes me that today is a day for encouragement.
All authors go through crazy stuff. We get rejected, we get unhelpful criticism. We get helpful criticism, and realize we have a lot to learn. This post has a ton of writer’s quotes to help you get through it all.
Take Heart.
Did you know that The Help was rejected more than SIXTY TIMES before it found an agent-home?
That’s not all. Dr. Seuss, The Diary of Anne Frank, Madeleine L’Engle, and more were told they simply sucked beyond all reason.
Even more:
- Rudyard Kipling was told he didn’t know the English Language.
- Beatrix Potter was rejected so many times she had to self-publish The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
- C. S. Lewis had more than 800 REJECTIONS before he made a publishing sale.
- Tim Burton was told the most damaging thing possible: “Considering that you suffer from a lack of the proper tools and materials, the art is very good.” In other words, go home, you hick.
I’m telling you this not to discourage you, but to lift you up: everybody gets rejected. Those who push past it and keep trying are the ones who get published.
But you don’t have to take it from me. Have some encouragement from folks you love to read, and don’t forget to share them. You never know who might need a pick-me-up.
Fantastic Writing Quotes
“A writer’s apprenticeship usually involves writing a million words (which are then discarded) before he’s almost ready to begin.” ~David Eddings
Tweet-sized version:
A writer’s apprenticeship involves a million discarded words before he’s almost ready to begin. ~David Eddings
However great a man’s natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once. ~Jean Rousseau
“You must want to enough. Enough to take all the rejections, enough to pay the price of disappointment and discouragement while you are learning. Like any other artist you must learn your craft—then you can add all the genius you like.” ~Phyllis A. Whitney
Tweet-size version:
Take all the rejections. Learn your craft—then you can add all the genius you like. ~Phyllis A. Whitney
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth
You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. ~Ray Bradbury
Write without pay until somebody offers to pay. ~Mark Twain
Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener
“Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies.” ~Emme Woodhull-Bäche
Tweet-sized version:
Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers and occasionally mortal enemies. ~Emme Woodhull-Bäche
When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing. ~Enrique Jardiel Poncela
Writing is a struggle against silence. ~Carlos Fuentes
“Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake.” ~E.L. Doctorow
Tweet-sized version:
Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. ~E.L. Doctorow
“The maker of a sentence launches out into the infinite and builds a road into Chaos and old Night, and is followed by those who hear him with something of wild, creative delight.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Tweet-sized version:
The maker of a sentence launches out into the infinite and is followed by those who hear him with delight. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes. ~André Gide
