5 for Friday: More Writing Encouragement

Here are more encouraging words from 5 writers, taken from Advice to Writers, compiled and edited by Jon Winokur. Enjoy and Happy writing!

“For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great
luck, he will succeed.”

–Ernest Hemingway

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”

–William Faulkner

“The best advice on writing I ever received was: Invent your confidence. When you’re trying something new, insecurity and stage fright come with the territory. Many wonderful writers (and other artists) have been plagued by insecurity throughout their professional lives. How could it be otherwise? By its nature, art involves risk. It’s not easy, but sometimes one has to invent one’s confidence.”

–Diane Ackerman

“Leave the dishes unwashed and the demands on your time unanswered. Be ruthless and refuse to do what people ask of you.”

–Lynne Sharon Schwartz

“Take out another notebook, pick up another pen, and just write, just write, just write. In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write. Say yes, stay alive, be awake. Just write. Just write. Just write.”

–Natalie Goldberg