Motivational Issues

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giaaddison

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I've decided that I'm going to print out some quotes and inspirational things to stick around my computer to help and encourage me to keep writing. Stuff like, "Show, don't tell."

What would you suggust? Any general things to motivate me.
 

aadams73

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Here's my personal favorite: "If I don't sit and write I will never be published. Ever." That keeps me pretty darn motivated!
 

seun

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How about:
"I write therefore I am."
You must grow a small beard and stroke it for this to work properly.
 

swvaughn

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JA Konrath has an interesting motivational quote:

"There's a word for a writer who never gives up... published."

I like it. :D
 
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A blatant plug for my site (sorry) but I have a quotations page here. Most are writing- or book-related.

Also, Gia, I have a word document saved on my computer full of quotations I've collected over the years. If you'd like me to email it to you, PM me your address. You might find a few gems there you like. :)
 
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"The first draft of anything is shit." -Some bloke called Hemingway.
 

giaaddison

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thank you everyone
just remember this one:
Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian poet, was visited on his deathbed by an eminent critic and friends, "You have much of which to be proud," the friend said. "Six thousand poems you have written, each one a masterpiece. You can die content in the knowledge that you have been a flower which has fully opened."
Rabindranath began to weep, much to the astonishment of the critic.
"Why are you weeping, my friend? Does death frighten you so?"
"I am not afraid of death. I am weeping because I have only just become a poet. Up to now my buds have only been half open. More and more poems are coming to me, each one better than the last. I am weeping at the injustice of being so quickly pruned by God."
 

NeuroFizz

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Here are three:

Writing and sex both serve dual roles—procreation and recreation.

The data of writing is life. Collect all you can.

Writing is done before a finger touches a single key. The computer just documents it.

 

Devil Ledbetter

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I have one quote taped to my monitor. It is from an interview with Matthew Kneale, author of my favorite novel, English Passengers:

Just write. Don't worry about seeming clever. If you can find a subject that means someting to you, and you can make it mean something to the rest of the world, you're made. But be sure enough happens.
 

arkady

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JA Konrath has an interesting motivational quote:

"There's a word for a writer who never gives up... published."

I like it. :D

I'd like it more if it were true.
 

pepperlandgirl

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Not to do with novels per se, but I think it's applicable. From the song What Light by Jeff Tweedy:

"If you feel like singing a song, and you want others to sing along, just sing what you feel, don't let anyone say it's wrong."
 

allenparker

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quote

"There is a bomb under your seat. It is connected to your computer. If you do not write at least 500 words, the bomb will explode!" naked futon guy

Works for me.
 

CaroGirl

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"Writers must parent their work with tough love."

"Every writer exercises the right to write badly. Good writers exercise this right until the writing is not too bad."

"Better to write one superb sentence than a hundred mediocre ones."

"If you're not writing for publication, you're writing a diary."

"Do NOT attempt to explain your work. Either it's on the page, or it's not."
 

NeuroFizz

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A few others...

On editing:
Anything you can do, you can do better.

On writer’s block:
The best laxative for writer’s block? Grab your ears and pull your head out.

On the craft:
The function of language is to communicate. Same for writing.

Is spelling important? Those who don’t know the difference between a burro and a burrow don’t know the difference between an ass and a hole in the ground.
 

Franz

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I keep 3 pages of Will Rogers' quotes by my computer, here are a few:

" Never miss a good chance to shut up."

" If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."

" There are three kinds of people: The ones that learn from reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of us have to pee on the electric fence and find out for ourselves."

"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement."

" I don't know how I got over the hill with out getting to the top."
 

TheIT

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The quotes I have on my desk came from the "Learn Writing with Uncle Jim" thread:

"Let me tell you something cool."

"I give myself permission to write dreck."
 
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