Books
Productivity can be very elusive, but with a new year comes new inspiration. The winter months are a great time to set new goals, start new hobbies, and finally get around to completing that project you’ve wanted to work on since June. From chipping away at your TBR pile, to joining book clubs, to making reading resolutions for a more feminist 2017, there are plenty of things you probably want to accomplish this year. Maybe the only problem is actually following through with all of them.
If you need an extra boost to really find inspiration so that your resolutions last, your favorite authors have your back. Writing can be a daunting profession — after all, you may find yourself staring at a blank page with no ideas in your mind. There’s a reason writer’s block is such a dreaded state, but because writers face this every day, they often give the best advice at overcoming it. You don’t have to be a writer to appreciate these words of wisdom from your favorite authors — no matter your hobbies and career,you can use the following quotes to inspire your 2017. Just follow these tips from trusted writers and you’ll have your most productive year yet.
"Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work."
–Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"Your body is a machine, but your mind is its driver, and you must drive as far as your mind will take you, with achievement as the goal of your road."
–Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
"Luck is not chance, it’s toil; fortune’s expensive smile is earned."
—Emily Dickinson, "Luck is not chance"
"The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can."
—Neil Gaiman, University of the Arts Keynote Address To The Class Of 2012
"Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet."
—Zadie Smith, "Zadie Smith's Rules For Writers"
"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
—Jack London, "Getting Into Print"
"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."
—Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
“Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default."
—J.K. Rowling, Harvard Commencement Address
"You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”
—Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
