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I did a thing yesterday! I transformed one of my old notebooks into a journal just for motivational sayings.
It started because I wanted to put up some new and unique content onto Pinterest (my favorite platform ever). And I've always been fond of my handwriting. So I thought that instead of doing what everyone else is doing – creating graphics in PhotoShop or something and uploading them – that I would actually write out some of my favorite sayings and take some photos.
This way, I can revisit them whenever I like right in my notebook. I can even continue adding to the notebook if I want. And I've also got some nice photos to look at and use online when I wish. Win-win.
My Favorite Motivational Sayings
A crappy first draft is worth so much more than a perfect book that has never been written.
Ever since I read Daphne Gray-Grant's article on the crappy first draft, I have worked hard to embrace that philosophy and let my inner perfectionist go. It's not easy, but it's necessary. And besides, the alternative is to not ever get any writing done – and what good would that do?
If you don't write, nothing will ever change.
I grew up reading anything and everything I could I truly believe that the written word contains more power in it than just about anything else. And one of its superpowers is the ability to change someone's mind and shape the world. But that can't happen if the story is never written,
It's okay to start writing even before you have a clear vision of the story.
This is one I need to read quite often. It's a take on the quote “You don't need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” I like it because it reminds me not to get stuck in the plotting stages of my writing. That it's okay to get started and just let the story unfold.
Forget the rules. Rules are for editors. Just write.
As you might have guessed, this is yet another quote meant to remind me to let go of my inner editor while I write. Anything I write can always be fixed later, in editing.
There is no wrong or right. Just write.
This quote is to remind me that it's impossible to choose the wrong word while writing. I use it to keep from getting stuck on choosing “just the right word.” It doesn't matter because, again, the right word can be chosen and added while in editing.
This is your story. No one else can hold the pen.
A nod back at one of my favorite quotes from Doctor Who: “We're all stories in the end, just make it a good one.” I use this quote to remind me that it doesn't matter if it's been done before – no one can tell a story the way I can. So regardless if I write about vampires, or haunted houses, or yet another love story…it doesn't matter how many times someone else has already written it. I haven't yet.
You don't have to worry about getting it right…you just need to get it written.
Yep, yet another quote to remind me that anything I write can be fixed later. As a recovering perfectionist, I've found that the battle against perfectionism can't be won in a day. I have to constantly remind myself that making a mistake would not be the end of the world, and that the fear of making a mistake should not stop me from writing.
Don't worry…you'll figure it out. You always do.
All my life I have been a worrier. And yet when I look back on it, most of the time my worry was unfounded. The things I always seemed to worry about the most always somehow worked out. The times I thought I was stuck or sunk, I somehow crawled out of. So this quote is to remind me that I've always done well figuring things out in the past. Whatever comes at me now? I can definitely handle.
And my all-time favorite quote?
Someday, you're going to be someone's favorite author.
Even if that someone turns out to be me – actually, I hope that someone turns out to be me.
This quote is more personal to me than the others.
I didn't always have the best childhood or the strongest family ties – but I did have an amazing uncle who did his best to help make up for it. And one day, as so many uncles do, he asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, and I told him I wanted to be a writer and he smiled the biggest smile and told me that someday, I would be his favorite author.
I've repeated these words ever since. Over the decades, they've grown into “someone's favorite author” but the sentiment is the same. And I've shared them with other writers, new authors, and all of my clients. And I can't explain to you the feeling I get when I share this and I get to see their face light up as they realize the power (and the truthI behind these words.
So, this is the quote that keeps me going more than any of the rest of them. Every time I want to stop writing, every time imposter syndrome sets in, every time I think that I'm getting too old or worry that no one will want to read my writing, I think back to this quote and the big smile on my uncle's face as he told this to me.
Because, I don't have to be a bestseller. I don't have to be the best author, the best writer, or have the best ideas. I don't have to be the most creative. Someone, somewhere will read my book. And it will have an impact.
And in the end, that's all I really want. I want someone to read my book and be inspired to do something. I don't have to get onto a bestseller's list for that to happen.
It's still a little weird whenever I see this photo (either with the current logo and tag “helpmenaomi”, or with my previous logo and tag “The Invisible Author”) snagged and shared across the internet, but it's also sort of a treat. Sometimes I will be scrolling Facebook and my feed will show someone sharing the Pinterest pin or something with this saying on it and how much it meant to them…and I smile because I know.
I know what those words mean to us.
This saying has been so important to my development as a writer, a ghostwriter, and a coach that I have actually incorporated it into my coaching program and into my book, Write Out Loud. I even have an entire line of merch featuring this quote over in my shop—
What are some of your favorite quotes? Have you ever decided to compile them together into a single file?
Feeling Motivated to Write Your Book?
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