10 Inspiring Quotes From Authors & Screenwriters

We've all had days when the dreaded writers block has struck, we feel bad if we haven't met your day's word count, you've taken the story in an unplanned direction and you're stuck or you just can't bring yourself to write because life is a bit hectic today - Don't worry, even the best of the best have been there. Today, I'm looking at some of my favourite writers and hopefully these words will inspire you to keep writing that novel, poem, screenplay or play:

1. "As a writer, a blank page will humble the hell out of you. It always does, and it always will.” - Barry Jenkins, Director/Screenwriter

2. “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” - Stephen King, Author

3, “I don’t think the challenge is asking an audience to like a character; it’s inviting them to try and understand them… then making that journey entertaining and worth their while. It’s a classic trick, but it’s human, and it allows characters to have more depth”. - Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Screenwriter/Actress

4. “I've been writing since I was six. It is a compulsion, so I can't really say where the desire came from; I've always had it. My breakthrough with the first book came through persistence, because a lot of publishers turned it down!” - J.K. Rowling, Author

5. “I try to get into a state where I’m allowing the characters to talk to me and talk to each other, because in the beginning of the writing process, I don’t know who they are yet. And this is the most pleasurable part of writing. They’ll often say things I had no idea they were going to say, and so much of the plot is built off of me consciously going through the dialogue that’s jumping out at me.” - Greta Gerwig, Screenwriter/Director

6. "There is the magic of memories... they do not have to be inhibited by the strict truth. A writer can, and a writer must, embroider and embellish what might be a simple tale without all the imaginative trappings. To take one’s own life story and tell it exactly as it happened (unless you’ve led one very exciting life), usually makes for less then suspenseful story. A novel has to be paced so it has peaks of excitement that grow higher as it approaches the climax. Life, just doesn't move along speedily enough, as a novel must. Dialogue in reality can be so mundane as to be absolutely boring." - V.C. Andrews, Author

7. "Don't try to guess what it is people want and give it to them. Don't ask for a show of hands. Try your best to write what you like, what you think your friends would like and what you think your father would like and then cross your fingers... The most valuable thing you have is your own voice. " - Aaron Sorkin, Screenwriter/Director

8. "The thing I want to leave the audience member with, it's a feeling - and I don't know what the word is for that feeling. And I don't think that there is a word for that feeling. It's very hard to get 'the feeling', but I want it to do something viscerally and hit all the senses. I want them to feel like they've just been on a huge ride, even though they've been still the whole time." - Michaela Coel, Screenwriter/Actress

9. "We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever." - Philip Pullman, Author

10. "When the script is finished, and you're sitting around at a table read, and all the actors are reading the words that you've written, and you're hearing it out loud for the first time, that is always, every single time, no matter what, a magical process." - Shonda Rhimes, Screenwriter

So, whatever story you're trying to write - keep going. There are days where it can be difficult and days where the words literally fly onto the page, but remember to treat yourself kindly. If it's meant to be, you will finish it and the world will love your characters as much as you do.

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This site has really kept me motivated in writing outside script work and analysing screenwriting and storytelling from multiple angles. There are many different communities and themes, so there's plenty of reading material if you have writers block. Follow this link and get writing!