Whenever I sit down to write, I am prepared to meet my loyal companion: fear. Regardless of what I’m writing, I can almost always count on fear being present. So what do I do with this fear of uncertainty? Most of the time, I choose to deflate its presence by putting pen to paper. However, there are times, when I don’t want to experience the fear and choose not to show up. But I’m really trying to minimize the “write or flight” response of not showing up by creating a safe space for the fearful writer within. One way I do this is to keep a journal of quotes for the moments when I need a little nudge of encouragement to be present and forge ahead.
I’ve chosen 23 quotes from my journal to share here for others who need encouragement when approaching the blank page. I hope that some of these words will resonate with you (and particularly the fearful writer within).
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
Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure our what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer. —Barbara Kingsolver
Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything. —Gustave Flaubert
The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. —Mary Heaton Vorse
I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done. —Stephen Wright (this one is for a chuckle!)
I have never thought of myself as a good writer. Anyone who wants reassurance of that should read one of my first drafts. But I’m one of the world’s great rewriters. I find that three or four readings are required to comb out the cliches, line up pronouns with their antecedents, and insure agreement in number between subject and verbs…My connectives, my clauses, my subsidiary phrases don’t come naturally to me and I’m very prone to repetition of words; so I never even write an important letter in the first draft. I can never recall anything of mine that’s ever been printed in less than three drafts. You write that first draft really to see how it’s going to come out. —James A. Michener
Writing is thinking on paper. —William Zinsser
If you haven’t got an idea, start a story anyway. You can always throw it away, and maybe by the time you get to the fourth page you will have an idea, and you’ll only have to throw away the first three pages. —William Campbell Gault
Resistance is fear. But resistance is too cunning to show itself naked in this form. Why? Because if Resistance lets us see clearly that our own fear is preventing us from doing our work, we may feel shame at this. And shame may drive us to act in the face of fear. —Steven Pressfield (The War of Art)
A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. —Sidney Smith
There is no satisfactory explanation of style, no infallible guide to good writing, no assurance that a person who thinks clearly will be able to write clearly, no key that unlocks the door, no inflexible rules by which the young writer may steer his course. He will often find himself steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion. —E. B. White
There is always the risk that you may disappoint yourself. That risk is there even for productive writers, as most writers don’t write as often as they would like. Because of this reality, you will need to practice self-forgiveness. —Eric Maisel
By writing much, one learns to write well. —Robert Southey
If we had to say what writing is, we would have to define it essentially as an act of courage. —Cynthia Ozick
Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up. —Jane Yolen
Don’t feel guilty about being afraid of the blank page. Don’t think you aren’t a writer if you don’t rush to the computer first thing when you get up in the morning in order to face the empty page. Writing is hard work. Filling up an empty page with your thoughts, your pains, your joys, and your creative ideas takes immense courage. —Rachel Ballon
Inspiration doesn’t descend like a lightning bolt from the gods. Inspiration comes instead from a steady breath, a solid foundation, and a commitment to the process. —Laraine Herring
Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. —Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird)
Work inspires inspiration. Keep working. If you succeed, keep working. If you fail, keep working. If you are interested, keep working. If you are bored, keep working. —Michael Chrichton
Once we are aware of our fears, we are almost always capable of being more courageous than we think. Someone once told me that fear and courage are like lightning and thunder; they both start out at the same time, but the fear travels faster and arrives sooner. If we just wait a moment, the requisite courage will be along shortly. —Lawrence Block
A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than for others. —Thomas Mann
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. —Agatha Christie
At some point we must stop anticipating our journey and set sail. Willa Cather said that she wrote best when she stopped trying to write and began simply to remember. —Ralph Keyes (The Courage to Write)
Do you have any favorite quotes or words of wisdom about writing?
image: pinterest via glitter guide (photographer: bonnie tsang)
If you haven’t read part one in this series, 
As I write this blog post, I am facing analysis paralysis, one fierce letter at a time. My mind feels like it is miles away, twisting and turning amid my graduate school research. Big projects, looming deadlines, and sometimes even mundane daily events can easily cause one to become detached, an observer of an experience rather than an engaged and mindful participant. Once you feel detachment, you feel less in control of your own life, starting an upsetting cycle that can lead you to over-analyze what you’re doing in an effort to become more immersed in the moment; however, as a result, you dig yourself into a deeper hole, leading to a feeling of being stuck, out of alignment due to analysis paralysis.
I write to understand better – myself and other people. I write to communicate and connect, usually first in my journal and then onto a legal notepad, and finally by typing as quickly as I can. I lose track of time and the world beyond my paper and pen in these sacred moments. And I love to write, the actual process versus the completion or end point, which is hard to say about most “obligations” in life.
As children, projects were usually fun, creative activities that allowed us to explore ourselves and the world around us. As adults, our projects become a bit more complex-and often downright frightening. Personally, I seem to commit subconsciously to daunting projects on a regular basis. I enjoy the fear and excitement that accompanies projects that are not predefined. Yet when faced with a project that seems completely overwhelming and practically impossible, it’s easy to become paralyzed by fear and resist engaging with it altogether. So how do we move past feeling powerless in order to begin taking action? Below are some of the methods I rely on to turn fear into action.
