20 Quotes to Help You Overcome Writer's Block

Whether you're a copywriter for an ad agency or an aspiring novelist, finding yourself in a creative slump can be quite frustrating. Writer's block can seem like an impenetrable barrier; a scarcity of new ideas and a dearth of inspiration that is both discouraging and stifling. So, in solidarity with writers everywhere, whatever your niche may be, here are 20 profoundly inspiring quotes to help you with the struggle and ignite the flame you so desperately need to get back into the flow.

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If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.

― Toni Morrison

Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.

― Lisa See

The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.

― Terry Pratchett

You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.

― Octavia E. Butler

You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.

― Jodi Picoult

Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.

— Louis L’Amour

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

― Sylvia Plath

Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.

— Franz Kafka

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.

— Richard Bach

I believe myself that a good writer doesn’t really need to be told anything except to keep at it.

— Chinua Achebe

You can, of course, write to inspire others… but most importantly, you must write to inspire yourself.

― Jessica Swan

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.

― William Wordsworth

If the book is true, it will find an audience that is meant to read it.

— Wally Lamb

A word after a word after a word is power.

— Margaret Atwood

Writing about a writer's block is better than not writing at all.

― Charles Bukowski

Don’t waste time waiting for inspiration. Begin, and inspiration will find you.

― H. Jackson Brown Jr.

All writing problems are psychological problems. Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged. If you imagine the world listening, you'll never write a line. That's why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.

― Erica Jong

I don't sit around waiting for passion to strike me. I keep working steadily, because I believe it is our privilege as humans to keep making things. Most of all, I keep working because I trust that creativity is always trying to find me, even when I have lost sight of it.

― Elizabeth Gilbert

People say, ‘What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?’ I say, they don’t really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they’re gonna do it. Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.

— R.L. Stine

I've always said "Writer's Block" is a myth. There is no such thing as writer's block, only writers trying to force something that isn't ready yet. Sometimes I don't write for weeks. And then all of the sudden I'll get a rush of inspiration and you can't drag me away from my notebook. But I don't stress out if I don't hit some arbitrary word count each day or if I go a few days without writing something.

― Julie Ann Dawson