Being a writer is easy, hard, agonizing, fulfilling, satisfying, emotional, life-changing. It's all of these, and then some, when you start writing for others to read. Or for them to judge, feel less alone, become inspired, see you in a different light, or tell you everything is wrong with everything you wrote.
There's so much bravery needed to write for the world to see. When you write for yourself, your words are a comfort. For a lot of writers, this is why we started putting pen to paper. Eventually, though, every writer starts to feel the need for their words to be read. This is often scary, daunting, and overwhelming.
Here are 15 inspiring quotes and advice for those of you starting your writing journey:
1. This is the very reason we all started writing, whether we were 8 or 48.
2. I have been through some shit. Reading has always been my saving grace. As a kid, I loved to escape the troubles at home by reading anything and everything. I started reading The Baby-Sitters Club series in kindergarten. I loved Shiloh, Where the Red Fern Grows, and The Great Gilly Hopkins. Even today, Tuck Everlasting is my favorite childhood book. But even though they were great escapes, I found that I wanted to read something I could relate to. I wanted to know I wasn't alone in the life I was living. So I started writing stories about characters similar to me, and giving them the life I wished for.
3.
4. 
5. Whether it's taking that first step, or getting out of a slump, WRITE SOMETHING.
6. We've all been at this point, and we'll all be there again. Just don't get stuck here.
7. 
8. Sometimes writing for yourself is the best gift you can give the world.
9. Writing has always been therapeutic for me. Even if no one else was going to read it, writing down my chaotic thoughts was what I needed - and so I wrote.
10. You have to start somewhere. And you have to start with something.
11. 
12. 
13. Writers don't find inspiration out of thin air. Just the same, be conscious of the things that pull you to write. If you are writing about someone overcoming an obstacle, do you write about their pain? The struggle? Or do write about how strong they were? Did the darkness under their eyes betray their strength? Maybe it's resilience you see when they only see their weakness. Tell your readers about these things, the things they won't see unless you tell them.
14. There's always going to be a character you don't like writing about, whether it's personal, or the character is essential. But just like a team, who is only as strong as their weakest member, your characters are only as strong as the one that's least liked.
15. The parts I hide, I wish to be, I have been, I WILL BE.
