Writing is hard work—nothing really prepares you for it. It doesn’t take long before you learn of its ups and downs. It is why many writers also learn to cherish the good writing days—when the words come easy like leaves that fall from trees. But those days are few and far in between.

Actually, most writing days are full of challenges. For starters, writers have to commit to their craft everyday, even on a bad day. You have to push past self-doubt and ignore the voice inside of your head that makes you second-guess yourself. You have to keep at it during every session, no matter how slow the words seem to come. And these are just some of the obstacles writers face day in and day out.

All writers can attest to these hardships, including masters of the craft. It is why writers need all the support and guidance they can find. If you are avoiding your desk, questioning your merit, or putting off your latest draft—the following quotes are for you.

Here are some words of encouragement, from fellow writers, to get you in the writing mood:

1. “So okay - there you are in your room with the shade down and the door shut and the plug pulled out of the base of the telephone. You’ve blown up your TV and committed yourself to a thousand words a day, come hell or high water. Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want.” -Stephen King

2. “You have to resign yourself to the fact that you waste a lot of trees before you write anything you really like, and that’s just the way it is. It’s like learning an instrument, you’ve got to be prepared for hitting wrong notes occasionally, or quite a lot, cause I wrote an awful lot before I wrote anything I was really happy with. And read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on. “ -JK Rowling

3. “You see in my view a writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has an amazing talent, because everything she does is golden. In my view a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.” -Junot Diaz

4. “Give, give, give - what is the point of having experience, knowledge or talent if I don’t give it away? Of having stories if I don’t tell them to others? Of having wealth if I don’t share it? I don’t intend to be cremated with any of it! It is in giving that I connect with others, with the world and with the divine.” -Isabel Allende

5. “The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.” -John Steinbeck

6. “The artist must be like that Marine. He has to know how to be miserable. He has to love being miserable. He has to take pride in being moe miserable that any soldier or swabbie or jet jockey. Because this is war, baby. And war is hell.” -Steven Pressfield

7. “You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner. This is especially true when you begin to write, when you have not developed the tricks of interesting people on paper, when you have none of the technique which it takes time to learn. When, in short, you have only your emotions to sell.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald

8. “The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” -Kurt Vonnegut

9. “A writer is not a writer because he has written some books. A writer is not a writer because he teaches literature. A writer is only a writer if he can write now, tonight, this minute.” -Charles Bukowski

10. “If you want a thing—truly want it, want it so badly that you need it as you need air to breathe, then unless you die, you will have it. Why not? It has you. There is no escape. What a cruel and terrible thing escape would be if escape were possible.” -Octavia Butler

Let these words serve as a little nudge in the right direction—sit and write, believe in your abilities, and tell your story.

What quote motivates you to write? Leave it in a comment below.

10 Quotes to Put You in The Writing Mood