Living the life of a writer is something that we do by choice, but often its the worst thing in the world. Not because of the tendonitis or black stomach from all of the coffee, but because sometimes it seems like there is no success in sight and all of our inspiration is gone. You can't read your favorite novel for the tenth time this week, so where do we turn? For me, it's always been TED talks. So, here are five of the my favorite TED talks that help me put pen to paper, or finger to keys.

1. Mac Barnett: Why A Good Book Is A Secret Door

What made me choose this as the first video was not the advice or success that Barnett has and shares with the audience, but the amount of inspiration I personally felt from him. It is also probably one of the most adorable videos you will see all day.

2. J.J. Abrams: The Mystery Box

I am not going to lie to you. J.J. Abrams gets second place mainly because he is J.J. Abrams. However, what got me about Abrams' speech was the beginning. His story about his grandfather made me realize the simplicity of stories. The story he tells about his grandfather reminded me about why I like stories to begin with.

3. Isabel Allende: Tales of Passion

Not only is Allende a world famous author, but instantly I was drawn into her TED Talk. She knows how to tell a story. Regardless if you get something from her speech that is advice or sage wisdom, you get a fantastic story. And we can all take something away from that.

4. John Green: On Paper Towns and Why Learning is Awesome

I simply cannot write something about writing and not include John Green. Even though his talk isn't about writing (besides the couple sentences we get) the passion he has for something as random as Paper Towns is a way to remember that a great story can be found in the strangest places.

5. Elizabeth Gilbert: Success, Failure and the Drive to Keep Creating

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of Eat, Pray, Love, and her TED talk is all about the success she found after writing the book. As writers, we are all in competition with each other sometimes. We absolutely do not want to hear about the success of others, but Gilbert discusses why failure is sometimes the best thing ever. And let me tell you as a writer who has failed in the eyes of agents over and over again, we need to accept that it's okay.