WRITING
17 Extremely Motivating Quotes to Make You a Better Writer
Golden nuggets from successful authors to take you to the next level as a writer
The Secret Sauce to Being a Successful Writer
To become a better writer, first you must believe that you are a writer and believe in your potential.
Powerhouse motivational and success guru, Tony Robbins says that the first two steps to take towards success is:
- Belief/Attitude: Celebrate your first success because recognizing the positivity in that will fuel upwards momentum.
- Potential: Stop saying to yourself that it’s not possible. Your potential is unlimited. Accept that success is indeed possible.
These are just two of the golden nuggets that go into the secret sauce recipe for success as a writer. Below are some more golden nuggets from some of the greatest writing minds who have ever filled a page.
I read and study these nuggets often, on a regular basis, as a tool to my success as a writer, and you should too.
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” — Richard Bach
To be a better writer, write like quitting is not even an option that’s on the table. You can perfect what you consistently practice. Keep writing until you see results and then keep writing some more. This will improve your writing skills.
It’s about building something, no matter what it looks like or what anybody else thinks. Noah looked foolish until it started raining. He didn’t give up and kept building.
“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” — Jodi Picoult
This is simple. Sit down at your computer and put something on the page! Write whatever comes to mind if you find that you have writer’s block.
Never mind thinking about if anyone’s going to like it or approve of what you have to say. If you have a topic in mind then that means you can write about it. After you’ve put down your words, then you have something to tweak and edit. But a blank page is just blank.
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” ― Stephen King
This is because of doubt — doubt about how you will be perceived, doubt about who you might offend, doubt about whether you’re good enough to write, doubt about not having enough followers, doubt about whatever.
Becoming a better writer may not be easy, but push through, and once you start, you’ll see that it’s not so bad after all.
“Stop trying to write sentences and start trying to write stories.” — James Patterson
Just let it pour out of you. Don’t obsess over every word and sentence as you write. That’s what proofreading and editing is for. Think about the message you would like to convey and write like you’re talking to your best friend. And just know in your heart that you will be a better writer.
“Write what you know: your own interests, feelings, beliefs, friends, family and even pets will be your raw materials when you start writing.” — J.K. Rowling
Stories are everywhere and stuff to write about is endless! To become a better writer, open your mind and your eyes to what’s around you.
Stop stressing over not knowing what to write about and perpetuating writer’s block. Just think for a moment and you’ll see that stories often come to you. They’ll come to you in your memory, thoughts, inspiration from what somebody else wrote or what somebody may have said, the news, something you saw or experienced, everyday life, aspirations…it really is endless.
“Almost all good writing beings with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” — Anne Lamott
This is a driving principle to becoming a successful writer, as you have seen already in three of the quotes in this story. You can always make edits. So, do not let the fear of making mistakes or writing something that’s not so great at first stop you from getting started.
“If you want to be a writer, you MUST do two things ABOVE all others: READ a lot & WRITE a lot.” — Stephen King
Reading does great things for the brain because when you read, you gain knowledge and you exercise the learning muscles. I like to read to educate myself on how to be a better writer or anything else for that matter. And I write a lot to become better at writing through practice while checking my progress through learning what works and being open to lessons learned from reading advice from those who have done what I aspire to do.
“Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.” — Henry David Thoreau
The old saying, strike while the iron is hot, is good advice!
As it pertains to writing, this just means not to let your ideas grow cold because you may forget some key information that could have made your piece all the better.
“Keep a small can of WD-40 on your desk — away from any open flames — to remind yourself that if you don’t write daily, you will get rusty.” — George Singleton
A clever way to use visual motivation.
If you don’t use it, you will lose it is another old saying that holds true, just like not working out or stretching a muscle will cause it to atrophy. This is the same with writing. You must exercise your writing muscles if you plan on becoming a better writer.
“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.” — Ernest Hemingway
Another old saying comes to mind here, and that’s: Never let ’em see you sweat.
Carry yourself like you’re already successful. Write and edit your stories the best that you possibly can and then publish them unapologetically. There’s no reason to reveal that you are not quite happy with your writing or to suggest to anyone that you are not yet good at writing.
“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” — Maya Angelou
Evoke emotion! Write to educate or touch people in some way, whether that is to make them laugh, cry, angry, sad, empathetic, sympathetic, motivated, excited, intrigued, proud, or any other emotion.
If people can relate to your writing, they will enjoy your writing and want to read more of it.
“What doesn’t kill us gives us something new to write about.” — Julie Wright
Just like the quote from J.K. Rowling above, you can find story topics in just about anything. Your experiences are infinite both past and present. Write about them!
“You fail only if you stop writing.” — Ray Bradbury
Failing by default by quitting is not the recipe for success as a writer.
Building a name for yourself as a writer is not easy. It’s hard. You have to write consistently every day and post at least 3–5 days a week, every week, every month, every quarter for at least two years, all the while seeing progress along the way. But if you get frustrated, tired, discouraged, or lazy and stop writing — that’s when the failure sets in.
“Man has two great gifts: ‘words’ to give sound to thoughts, and ‘writing’ to give thoughts meaning forever.” — Gianfranco Iovino
Words and thoughts that go forth into the universe cannot be undone and putting one’s words and thoughts to paper seals them into the fabric of collective vibrational energy even more.
Your thoughts interpreted into words and put down so that others can share your thoughts is the stuff that has created everything that man has made. Don’t be afraid to create a successful writer in you.
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” — Dr. Seuss
So simple a child can understand this one.
I included this quote from the great Dr. Seuss to illustrate that you don’t have to write long-winded pieces to be successful, and in fact, you’d bore your readers.
Write so that the readers can extract what’s good for them without having to climb a wall of text.
“Write. Just do it. Then again. Then some more. And more. Do not wait for inspiration; if you do enough of it often enough, inspiration will eventually come.” — Nancy Kress
Just leap! Sit down and just start writing about the first thing that comes to your mind and soon it will turn into a story. I do this, and sometimes I don’t even finish a story right then and there. Sometimes my stories are written over a few days. Just go on to the next topic if a story hasn’t presented itself to you fully yet.
“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” — Anne Frank
This is so inspiring from a little girl who used writing to escape the horrors of her life imprisoned. Writing is indeed a super power.
One of the main reasons that I write is because I can. And I can do so freely. I’m grateful that I have the capacity to write because I’m in good health, I can see, and have the functioning of all of my senses. I appreciate being in my right mind and for intellect and passion and feelings. My writing is a gift to both myself and to those who read it.
What You Can Takeaway
The words of the wise can spark wisdom within our own thinking, imagination, motivation, and actions.
Writing is expression and everyone has the power to express.
If your goal is to become better at writing, then allow these quotes to occupy an important place in helping you reach your goals as a writer. Really dissect the messages and look closely to find the deeper meanings and apply them in your own life.
If I were to choose just one of these quotes as the top piece of advice to become a better writer, it would be Stephen King’s quote about WRITING and READING — a lot. Stephen writes every single day, and billionaire Warren Buffett noted that reading 500 pages a day was a key to his success and said doing so built up like compound interest.
KEY THOUGHT: To be a successful writer on Medium (or anywhere else), be consistent and persistent for the long haul while following the blueprints of those who have already done what you aspire to do.
Here is a related story. Many successful people make reading a habit, and as it goes — if you want to be successful, do what successful people do.
And here is a story with 11 more motivating quotes for success.
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