For those who are hoping to make a career from the pen, there are lots of mistakes that have to be made first. Drafts written and discarded, plots or characters that can't be developed, sentences that sound beautiful, but are ultimately meaningless. It can be a frightening experience sometimes, one that creates a lot of inner doubt and nerves. More than once I've looked around at the dog-eared and annotated books, the scribbled in notebooks, the post-its on the walls, and thought, "I should have chosen prelaw, premed, psychology -- anything but this."
In moments of doubt, though, I look to those who've made it. I look at what writers have to say about the process of writing. And it always comforts me; like the moment an author perfectly vocalizes a thought you've always had, it makes you feel validated and less alone. So for all those struggling, but hopefully not starving, writers out there, below are ten quotes about the peculiar, sometimes isolating, and often wonderful process of creation, as told by those who've done it.
1. "Writing is never easy... there are moments when you think you're a genius, but you're often disproved the next day." Patti Smith
2. "You have total control when writing about the future and you can research the past... The hardest thing to write about is now." Margaret Atwood
3. "The value of literature is that it's a place where everything can be said in every manner... Another name for that is liberty." Salman Rushdie
4. "If you're going to write fiction, you have to come to grips with the fact that there's a world out there that has nothing to do with you." Gary Indiana
5. "To choose to write is to reject silence." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
6. "The artist who can show us our lives at this moment and help us fathom them is performing an essential role." Jennifer Egan
7. "Ultimately, the meaning of a word, like that of a person, is boundless, ineffable." Jhumpa Lahiri
8. "One of the amazing things about being a writer (and a human) is that you can't control what people think... Once you give your work to the world, it's no longer your own." Victor Lavalle
9. "Notebooks are good places for bad ideas." Austin Kleon
10. "You must always be unsure. Reach further inward to the empty space within you... let more happen." Colm Tóibín
If you want more inspiration, check out @lastnightsreading on Instagram, run by Kate Gavino -- it's a treasure trove of inspiration just waiting to be explored.
