Words of Encouragement

Happy Monday, everyone! I just got back from vacation at Disneyland and am trying to transition back into work mode. (That’s not an easy feat even when you’re self-employed and/or a freelancer.) However, life goes on, and we’re already five days into November. You know what that means? We’re five days into NaNoWriMo! Today I wanted to stop by and provide some words of encouragement for all my fellow writers, especially those daring to take on this month-long writing marathon.

We could all use some encouragement at least once in a while. Writing can be a thankless pursuit and very disheartening. We struggle to write, we get guilty when we can’t find the time to write, we submit to agent after agent, publisher after publisher, magazine after magazine with little to show for it. All the while, there is no guarantee of return; we just keep ourselves running on pure faith. Still, writing can also be very rewarding and spiritually/emotionally freeing. Even the smallest bit of praise or recognition can send us to the moon from our joy. Yet while our writing is still a WIP, what do we have to keep us going but belief in ourselves? What if that self-confidence begins to run low?

That is when doubt sets in. That is when writer’s block becomes its worst, and that is when we are most vulnerable to quitting. We need the encouragement of others to see us through, and when the people around us cannot help, we must turn to the Internet and motivational quotes.

I’ll be the first to admit that motivational quotes aren’t always that motivating. In fact, they can be downright cheesy and annoying. Regardless, I have found a handful of gems online directed at writers. The one which is currently stuck in my head is one I came across on Facebook.

Someday, you’re going to be someone’s favorite author.

–Unknown

It’s a simple sentence but very powerful. One of the biggest problems for struggling writers is the lingering fear that nothing they create will ever matter. To think that someday someone will love your work like you love the work of your favorite writer–there’s no greater encouragement than that. It definitely recharges my batteries to think that one day someone will dive for my work like I dive for the books of J.K. Rowling and Anne McCaffrey.

If you ever start to feel like your writing doesn’t matter and that you should just give up, remember that most writers started off thinking that no one would ever read their works. They wrote because they had something to say, and eventually the audience came to them. Even if it’s not in your lifetime, someday at least one reader will love your works and at the end of the day, doesn’t that make it worth your time and effort?

Do you have any words of encouragement for your fellow writers? Something to keep everyone going during NaNoWriMo and all year long? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!