No one can write the story like you

So I wrote this post about fear last week, and my inbox sort of blew up. For days, notes arrived with thanks for the inspiration, for getting real. And it got me thinking. We all experience moments of terror and confusion. This seems to ring particularly true with writing. So what gives?

Something about seeing our vulnerability on the page can be paralyzing. Our words and thoughts take on more meaning when they’re staring back at us – when they are no longer in our head where only we can see them. Then we get critical. We think we suck. We’re sure we will never pen a thing worth reading.

It’s so easy to get deflated.

But that’s the sort of self-talk that creates writers’ block. It’s also why some people never fulfill their lifelong dream of writing. We have expectations of how things should turn out, and if we can’t be awesome out of the gate, we pull the plug. Writing is hard work. Why start if we think we won’t be any good?

I could give you some happy horse-shit about having one life. I could remind you that anything left undone on the day you’re buried is a criminal waste of time. But you already know that. And it’s cliche. (And I hate cliches.)

So here’s my point:

If you have a burning desire to write, then write.

If you think you cannot do it, you’re wrong.

If you think it’s unrealistic, you’re wrong.

If you think it will be scary, you’re right.

If you’re willing to go after what you want in spite of that fear …

If want to go out knowing that you did everything you could …

you’re in the right place.

“No one else can write the story like you.”

– Michael Xavier

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If you want help polishing a manuscript or breaking out of your writer’s block, check out my four-week writing intesive, or contact me for a consult.

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25 inspirational quotes for writers

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“You don’t have to be great to begin, but you have to begin to be great.” – Unknown

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“Do what your heart truly desires because they’ll damn you if you do and they’ll damn you if you don’t.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

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“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery–isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.” –  Charles Bukowski

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“You must learn to overcome your very natural and appropriate revulsion for your own work.” – William Gibson

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“Endeavor to make me feel what you feel.” – @ChaseLori

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“Why do you have to complicate it?” – Peter Elbow

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“Writers write.” – Michael Xavier

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“I do not foresee a time when I shall feel that I have nothing to say.” – Alberto Moravia

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“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” – John Steinbeck

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“You have to learn the rules of the game, And then learn to play better then anyone else.” – Albert Einstein

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“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” – Hans Hofmann

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“So I sit for a moment and then say a small prayer – please help me get out of the way so I can write what wants to be written.” – Anne Lamott

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“If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.” – Albert Einstein

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“Let the world know why you’re here and do it with passion.” – Wayne Dyer

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“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” – Picasso

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“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” – Louis L’Amour

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“To write with clarity and power requires an essential act of taking full responsibility for your words… Reading your words out loud is a vivid outward act that amplifies your sensation of responsibility for your words. That’s why oaths and promises must be spoken out loud to work best.” – Peter Elbow

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“Don’t ever tell a story like it wasn’t about you.” – Merritt Malloy

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“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

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“Passion always moves you closer to what’s real.” – Unknown

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“When genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” – DH Lawrence

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“Set yourself on fire.” – Grumpier Old Men

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“I don’t know where I’m going from here but I promise it won’t be boring.” – David Bowie

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“Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”  – Kurt Vonnegut

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“I’ve learned how to take more control over my writing while still giving it free rein…. I’ve learned the value of not expecting a twelve year old child to come out when you’re giving birth to a baby; that any writing needs time after its birth so it can change and grow and eventually reach its potential. I’ve come to realize that you most probably won’t find a pearl if you only pick up oysters once a year. So I will try to write a lot—a whole lot—and not expect that every piece emerge a gem. I’ll learn to put up with (maybe even enjoy) the bad stuff, remembering that the more I do of it, the closer I get to coming out with something good. When I feel that a good idea has emerged, but I don’t know where to follow it, I won’t feel that it’s a lost cause— that its moment has passed. I’ll let it sit for a while and then go back to it with renewed energy until I can make something whole out of it, or decide that I’ve gone as far as I can with it.” – Joanne Pilgrim

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This is just a start. Share your favorites in the comments. Every writer needs inspiration.