Conversation

Stew Fortier
@stewfortier
When I feel stuck with my writing, I've found inspirational quotes rarely help – they subtly make me feel like struggling is rare. I've started to compile a list of anti-inspirational quotes to remind myself I'm in good company when things suck. Here are a few favorites:
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Stew Fortier
@stewfortier
“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” – George Orwell
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Stew Fortier
@stewfortier
“I write the way women have babies. You don’t know it’s going to be like that. If you did, there’s no way you would go through with it.” – Toni Morrison
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Stew Fortier
@stewfortier
“When I sit down at the desk I feel no better than someone who falls and breaks both legs in the middle of the traffic of the Place de l’Opéra.” – Franz Kafka
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Stew Fortier
@stewfortier
“I discard every page, rewrite it, and throw discarded sheets of conversation about the floor… From rubbing my forehead I have worn an enormous hole in it, which bleeds.” – Elizabeth Bowen
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Stew Fortier
@stewfortier
/ Fin. Reply with your best anti-inspirational writing quote and let's co-create the world's most depressing writing thread. 😹 Also, shout-out to
@TomJWhiteIV
for unearthing a few of these quotes.
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