Encouragement
Writing is often a lonely endeavor, and the hearts of those engaged in it can easily be dragged down by self-doubt and discouragement. Here's a few quotes that might help.
“If you have the human heart in conflict with itself, it doesn’t matter if your story takes place on a distant world or on the streets of your home town.” --George R. R. Martin
"If you want to double your success rate, triple your failure rate." --Cory Doctorow.
"Writing a first draft is very much like watching a Polaroid develop. You can't--and in fact, you're not supposed to--know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing." --- Ann Lamott, Bird by Bird.
"If you are never satisfied with what you write, that is a good sign. It means your vision can see so far that it is hard to catch up with it." --Brenda Ueland, IfYou Want to Write.
"Better to start something poorly than not start at all. Everything we do, like walking or talking, we started out doing badly." --McNair Wilson.
"If the artist works only when he feels like it, [she's] not apt to build up much of a body of work. Inspiration far more often comes during the work than before it." --Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water
"In the privacy of their most secret hearts, most writers, artists, actors and musicians believe their talent is a gift. it comes from beyond the self, crashing over them unexpectedly, with joy. It is received, therefore, with awe and humility." ---Sophy Burnham, For Writers Only
But the best source of inspiration for me is "Leaf by Niggle," by J.R.R. Tolkien. It's about a little man called Niggle, who was a painter. "He had a number of pictures on hand; most of them were too large and ambitious for his skill." What happens to this lowly artist always brings a a lump of joy to my throat. The story is found in Tolkien's Tree and Leaf.
