It’s the new year and it’s filled with the promise of realizing your writing goals. Let’s commit to turning words into story, even if we’re uncertain of where our characters are taking us, even if we’re not feeling inspired, even if we don’t feel we have the time. Are you in? That’s my goal for this year ~ to bring to life the characters and stories inside my head that are waiting to be told. Nothing brings a writer more satisfaction than beginning with the blank page, becoming lost in the creative process, and finally, typing the words, The End…then beginning again! So…I’m going to commit to a novel and at least three short stories/novellas. What about you?

What I’ve always found inspiring are the words of advice imparted to writers by authors I admire. That’s why I was so pleased to discover: THE 90 TOP SECRETS OF BESTSELLING AUTHORS on the website of Writer’s Digest. I’ve always been a fan of Writer’s Digest. In the past I’ve subscribed to the magazine, purchased the annual guide to publishers, and have been a member of their book club. I frequently visit their website which is filled with inspirational, educational, and informative articles on writing. The quotations in the article are arranged according to the following categories: Inspiration & Ideas, Getting Started, Style & Craft, Purpose, Characters, Plot & Structure, Rituals & Method, Revision & Editing, Publishing, and Readers. Some of the contributors include: Ray Bradbury, Margaret Atwood, Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Jude Devereaux, Eudora Welty, Sue Grafton, Danielle Steele, and many more!

Below you will find just a few of my favorites. I’m going to keep them close by so when I’m in need of encouragement I need look no further than my desktop. Visit the page and find a few favorites that will inspire you!

Characters:

“The character on the page determines the prose—its music, its rhythms, the range and limit of its vocabulary—yet, at the outset at least, I determine the character. It usually happens that the fictitious character, once released, acquires a life and will of his or her own, so the prose, too, acquires its own inexplicable fluidity. This is one of the reasons I write: to ‘hear’ a voice not quite my own, yet summoned forth by way of my own.”
—Joyce Carol Oates

Rituals & Methods:

“I try to write a certain amount each day, five days a week. A rule sometimes broken is better than no rule.”
—Herman Wouk

Readers:

“The critics can make fun of Barbara Cartland. I was quite amused by the critic who once called me ‘an animated meringue.’ But they can’t get away from the fact that I know what women want—and that’s to be flung across a man’s saddle, or into the long grass by a loving husband.”
—Barbara Cartland