I wrote a book this summer. (Not the children’s book I wrote last summer. Another book, for grown ups.)

I wrote it with a pen, in a journal. I keep meaning to type it up. And edit it and add to it. And work on getting it published.

But, alas, I keep designing and selling t-shirts for flood relief, Alzheimer’s and heart disease and now, breast cancer, because, somehow, that’s easier.

Writing is hard work. It takes time and self-discipline.

Writing is my therapy

Writing is my calling and my therapy.  It’s where I process all of these great, big emotions.

I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. – Anne Frank

This week, I didn’t make time for my writing amidst sandwich generation stresses of motherhood and aging grandparents, and, as a result, my anxiety level soared.

So today, I’m sharing a few favorite quotes about writing, in hopes of encouraging myself and others to keep telling our stories!

Favorite quotes about writing

From Bostonian Benjamin Franklin:

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

From Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd:

It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.

From my mother’s favorite author, William Faulkner:

If a story is in you, it has to come out.

From Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings:

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

And from my favorite author, John Steinbeck:

If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he feels important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he may sometimes, but by no means always, find the way to do it. You must perceive the excellence that makes a good story good or the errors that makes a bad story. For a bad story is only an ineffective story.

Want more quotes? Visit our #FridayFive linkup.

Love,

Lauren