Just Keep Writing

I like to spend my Sunday’s reflecting on life. Considering my obsessions with writing and reading, that means reflecting on my work and the work of other authors. Recently I had my first every bullying episode as an adult. It came from someone I knew(ish) and thought I liked. The keyword there is thought. I have since changed my mind.

I trusted this person with my writing, and they betrayed my trust. Instead of providing constructive feedback, they left all manner of mean-spirited comments in the margins and essentially rewrote it so that it sounded just like what they would have written. I am still processing what was said to me, and still trying to work through the insecurities it fed. I am glad that I am at a stage in my writing where I have enough faith in myself to keep going and a dogged determination to write no matter what anyone says.

As a result, I decided to create this post to honor you all and encourage you to keep writing whatever your demons, insecurities, or jackass false friends. So, here are a few quotes to cheer you up this week!

A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. ~Colin Powell

The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe. ~Gustave Flaubert

Grit is that ‘extra something’ that separates the most successful people from the rest. It’s the passion, perseverance, and stamina that we must channel in order to stick with our dreams until they become a reality. ~Travis Bradberry

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. ~C. S. Lewis

I’m just a musical prostitute, my dear. ~Freddie Mercury (And we are all just writing prostitutes)

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. ~T. S. Eliot

We build too many walls and not enough bridges. ~Isaac Newton