57 inspirational quotes to kick off 2016!

Here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we love inspirational and motivational quotes – if you don’t believe us, check out our Instagram feed!  Once the domain of framed glass pictures on corporate office walls, such quotes are now more accessible than ever – thanks mainly to the rise of the internet and social sharing.

Just like books, quotes resonate differently with different people. There may be thousands (millions!) out there – but finding one that provides the right balance of inspiration and motivation and speaks to you can be a little more difficult. So last month, we asked our community to send in the quotes that they love – the words that motivate them to get out of bed (or off the sofa) and smash their writing goals.

Here is just a sample of what we got back – you may recognise some of them by famous authors, while others were direct responses from the person submitting. However we’ve chosen to remove all names so that you judge it on the merits of its words and not by how famous the person was who said it!

Perhaps one of these will speak to you as 2016 gets underway…

1. “The definition of a writer is a peculiar organism capable of transforming caffeine into books.”
2. “Writing is like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
3. “Start writing no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
4. “I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of.”
5. “Writing can begin from a momentary lapse in your concentration.”
6. “There are two types of books within us; one to publish and one for ourselves – just write!”
7. “Writing is my love. If you love something you find a lot of time for it. I write for 2 hours a day, starting at midnight; at times, I start at 11.”
8. “A story is as long as it needs to be to say what needs to be said.”
9. “Be brave about it. Be stubborn about it. Be the hero of your own story. But most importantly BEGIN!”
10. “Be a rebel, write the truth.”
11. “Place your writing desk in a corner as writing is ‘an aspect of your life but not all your life’.”
12. “Learn to flow with the pace of life, to stop resisting its transitions, and to welcome the unknown.”
13. “The best writing advice I received is to sit your butt in chair and WRITE.”
14. “All that I have to learn is within me.”
15. “I write for the same reason I breathe – because if I didn’t, I would die.”
16. “You are a writer. You are inherently audacious.”
17. “Write with the door closed. Read with the door open.”
18. “Let your dreams fly high.”
19. “Write something every day.”
20. “Set a timer for 50 minutes, then sit down and do nothing but write until it goes off. NO breaks for housework, surfing the Internet etc. Then have a break and start again if you can.”
21. “Be patient and keep reading.”
22. “Don’t get it right; get it written.”
23. “You can’t edit a blank page.”
24. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.”
25. “You have to make room for the work.”
26. “Attend a minimum of two writing events or courses a year to meet other authors, learn and stimulate you to write.”
27. “Look for current stories with more mileage and keep a cache of ideas.”
28. “Amateurs wait for inspiration. The rest of us get up and go to work.”
29. “To try and fail is better than not to try at all.”
30. “Write and read as much as you can because the two of them go hand in hand.”
31. “I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shovelling sand into a box so that I can build castles.”
32. “Do not write and edit at the same time. Creative writing and editing actually uses two different parts of the brain. Never the twain should meet.”
33. “Finish the damn book.” 
34. “Just write it!!”
35. “Regular interaction with other writers gives me the inspiration to continue writing.”
36. “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”
37. “Write hard and clear about what hurts.”
38. “No point in talking the dream of writing over coffee – just do it!”
39. “The first draft of anything is shit.”
40. “Just do it because it feels good.”
41. “Write down EVERY idea, no matter how outlandish it may be.”
42. “I did not fail. I suffered a setback.”
43. “Good writing is not written. It is rewritten.”
44. “Write something every day, no matter how small.”
45. “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
46. “When I loved myself enough, I started writing about my life and views because I knew this was my right and my responsibility.”
47. “A writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.”
48. “Stand up for 2 minutes every 20 minutes.”
49. “A successful writer needs three things: talent, determination and rage.”
50. “What is big news one day becomes cat litter tray lining the next.”
51. “I have a dream…”
52. “You have to make the time to write otherwise it will never happen. You just have to keep going.”
53. “Make writing like a business project, not a ‘when I can be bothered’ hobby: set goals, put a date on achieving those goals and work to achieving those targets.”
54. “Write it, then get it right.”
55. “400,000,000,000 (one in four hundred trillion). That is the calculated odds of me (and you) being born. And therefore you and I are on this planet for the purpose to make real change.”
56. “Never give up. Never, never, never give up! NEVER, NEVER NEVER NEVER! Never . . . give up!”
57. “Best writing advice: Stop reading this and write something.”