On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In her latest release, 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round, novelist Jami Attenberg, shares her advice and that of over 50 other writers.

Here’s an inspiring essay from Celeste Ng:

I am a perfectionist by nature so the drafting stage is hard for me. It is really hard to just move forward and put something down on paper because part of my brain is always screaming, “But it’s not quite right! Erase it! Erase it NOW!

But I’ve also learned that it is very rare to get something completely right on the first try—and it’s approximately nine million times easier to revise something from “not great” into “actually kind of decent.” So for me, the key is getting something down, and even when it’s imperfect—which is always—it usually points me in the direction I need to dig in.

Over the years, I’ve collected a bunch of analogies for the writing process that helps me override that type-A instinct in my brain, at least temporarily. In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott talks about the first draft being the “down draft” (just get it down), and the second draft being the “up draft” (when you fix it up).

And then there’s a sign I have over my writing desk which I glance up at as needed. It just says ‘WORRY ABOUT THAT LATER.”

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In her latest release, 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round, novelist Jami Attenberg, shares her advice and that of over 50 other writers.

Here’s an inspiring essay from Hannah Tinti:

When I was younger, I did pottery. Before I learned how to throw on the wheel, or fire a kiln, or even how to press a pinch pot, my teacher showed us how to make clay. There was a huge barrel of slip in the studio, a trash can filled with water, where everyone would throw their mistakes. Any failed creation (that hadn’t been baked yet) would be recycled back into the mud, and the first step to making new clay was to grab a heavy shovel and start tossing these old mistakes in the giant mixer. Every once in a while, we’d open the lid and check the consistency. If the clay was too dry, we’d throw in another shovel of failure.

This is how I’ve come to think of first drafts. Before you can make a priceless vase or a heartfelt novel, you’ve got to make the clay. And you better put on some overalls, because you’re going to get covered with muck. The good news is, you can recycle some of your old ideas. In fact, using the slurry of previous work ages your clay (like fine wine in an oak barrel), making it stronger and more flexible, which greatly increases the chances that your next creations won’t end up in the slip bucket. So think of your 1000 words today as raw material. It doesn’t have to look like anything yet. But one day you’ll come back to it and spin it into something beautiful.

Source: 1000 Words, p. 157

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Whenever I need a boost, I reread Write Smart, Write Happy by award-winning author Cheryl St. John. Here’s an uplifting excerpt:

More than once I’ve heard the mind compared to land or soil. Land is lying there, available. If you have a yard or a garden, you know this. A farmer knows it, up close and personal. Land doesn’t have an opinion about what becomes of it; it’s ready for anything. If no one ever plows or plants seeds or fertilizes, the land will produce only weeds. Maybe a stray wildflower or tree seed will happen by, and if the weather permits and there is adequate rain and sun, those seeds will grow into plants. Anything that grows is by happenstance.

But a farmer can plow and prepare the soil and plant any crop he wishes—anything from corn to deadly nightshade. Land doesn’t care. It will produce whatever is planted. But land always returns what is planted.

The same is true for our minds. We can let our minds fall idle to whatever happens to fall in and take root. Or we can create goals, prepare our thoughts, and plant success. Our minds don’t care what we plant, but whatever we plant is what will grow and be returned to us.

Source: Write Smart, Write Happy by Cheryl St. John, p. 256

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Last month, New York Times best-selling author Louise Penny received an honorary degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. Here’s the powerful speech she delivered to the Class of 2024:

My favorite quotations:

“Hope is a revolutionary act, and civility is terrifying to those who would divide us.”

“I am also very grateful to have looked into the void. No gap: no miracles, no joy, no books, no Dr. Penny.”

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Whenever I need a boost, I reread Write Smart, Write Happy by award-winning author Cheryl St. John. Here’s an uplifting excerpt:

Sometimes a book is merely a job. Sometimes a book is not enjoyable to write. But we love being writers, or we wouldn’t do this. We love having written something that will touch and inspire others. We love the magic of stories and creating worlds and people we can manipulate to draw emotions from our audience. We love being writers.

Sometimes it’s an effort, but we must remember our first love; we must transport ourselves back to those days when we first knew we had to put those people in our heads on paper and create stories for them. Whenever I’ve been discouraged or questioned my choices, I’ve always asked myself the same question: What would I rather be doing?

Even before I was published, I was frustrated and wondered if I should keep pursuing this dream of being a writer. I sometimes wished I could be content to do something else, something with a quicker payoff and a visible reward for the effort. But in my heart of hearts, I knew I would not be satisfied until I’d given writing my very best and written stories that touched readers the way so many books have touched me.

So, if you believe you’ve lost your love of writing or have become discouraged, ask yourself, What would I rather be doing? If there’s something else that fills that place in you, by all means do that thing. If not, remember your first love. Find the joy, the awe, and the inspiration and discipline to move forward.

Source: Write Smart, Write Happy by Cheryl St. John, p. 78