NaNoWriMo Inspiration! 42 Inspirational Quotes for Writing

In honor of the month of November, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo!), I've decided to compile *42 FANTASTIC WRITERLY QUOTES* to inspire you ^_^!

They aren’t in any particular order. Some are hilarious, some are blunt, some are nurturing…but they’re all inspiring. So read and interpret at your leisure, and if you hit a slump, come back for more!

My NaNoWriMo participation isn't going to result in a full length novel...and I'm ok with that because I have a portfolio to submit for a scholarship and I want to WIN IT. (Or, more accurately, one of the awards the Foundation offers for it.)

So even if you can’t write a full novel, write something. You’ll be glad you did :)!

If you're feeling discouraged about your plot, characters, and/or word count, read on!

If you’re simply looking for some inspiration to get you started or keep you going, read on!

If you’re not sure if you really want to jump on this wagon of crazy (it’s fun…you know you want to…), read on!

"Is life not a hundred times too short for us to stifle ourselves?" ~Friedrich Nietzsche

"It's never too late to be what you might have been." ~George Eliot

"The heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night." ~Thomas S. Monson

"If you've FINISHED writing a novel you are amongst the elite!!! You ARE NOT A FAILURE IF YOU CANNOT LIVE OFF YOUR BOOKS. You only fail by NOT TRYING." ~Nadia Cornier

“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” ~Joseph Heller

“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.” ~Arthur Plotnik

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." ~André Gide

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, brain surgery." ~Robert Cormier

 “A one-page breakthrough starts an avalanche.” ~Nancy K. Haddock

"When asked, 'How do you write?' I invariably answer, 'one word at a time.'” ~Stephen King

"It's a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or fortune but just yourself that kept things from you." ~Lillian Hellman

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” ~Thomas Edison

"I dwell in possibility." ~Emily Dickenson

“Pay no attention to what the critics say; no statue has ever been erected to a critic.” ~Jean Sibelius

“Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.” ~Orson Scott Card

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.” ~Anaïs Nin

"There were days when I wondered if I was a glutton for punishment or simply delusional. However, my writing must have been improving because one day I found myself with three agents interested in my latest manuscript." ~Lois Winston

"We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world." ~Marianne Williamson

 “There is no agony like having an untold story inside you.” ~Zora Neale Hurston

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” ~Joan Didion

“I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else.” ~Dolly Parton

“If your ship hasn't come in--swim out to it.” ~Mary Engelbreit

 “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; there is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” ~Henry David Thoreau

 “My books are water; those of the great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water.” ~Mark Twain

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.” ~Buckminster Fuller

“The expert at anything was once a beginner.” ~Hayes

"All writers are crazy. So never mind what the editors and your family and your critique group tells you. Submit your  manuscripts and keep submitting until you get an offer. Then you can be crazy, with a paycheck." ~Mary Janice Davidson