“Write poorly.Suck.Write Awful.Terribly.Frightfully.Don’t care.Turn off the inner editor.Let yourself write.Let it flow.Let yourself fail.Do something crazy.Write 50,000 words in the month of November.I did it.It was fun.It was insane.It was 1,667 words per day.It was possible, but you have to turn off the inner critic off completely.Just write.Quickly.In bursts.With joy.If you can’t write, run away.Come back.Write again.Writing is like anything else.You won’t get good at it immediately.It’s a craft.You have to keep getting better.You don’t get to Juilliard unless you practice.You want to get to Carnegie Hall?Practice. Practice. Practice ..or give them a lot of money.Like anything else it takes 10,000 hours to get to mastery.Just like Malcolm Gladwell says.So write.Fail.Get your thoughts down.Let it rest.Let is marinate.Then edit, but don’t edit as you type.That just slows the brain down.Find a daily practice.For me it’s blogging.It’s fun.The more you write the easier it gets.The more it is a flow, the less a worry.It’s not for school, it’s not for a grade, it’s just to get your thoughts out there.You know they want to come out.So keep at it.Make it a practice.Write poorly.Write awfully.Write with abandon and it may end up being really really good.”

“I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true – hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.”

“Mama, I know you used to ride the bus. Riding the bus and it’s hot and bumpy and crowded and too noisy and more than anything in the world you want to get off and the only reason in the world you don’t get off is it’s still fifty blocks from where you’re going? Well, I can get off right now if I want to, because even if I ride fifty more years and get off then, it’s the same place when I step down to it. Whenever I feel like it, I can get off. As soon as I’ve had enough, it’s my stop. I’ve had enough.”

“Don't over edit. Don't second-guess yourself, or your ideas. Just write. Write every day, and keep at it. Don't get discouraged with the rejections. Tape them up on your office wall, to remind you of all the hard work you put in when you finally start getting published! It's all about persistence and passion. And have fun with it. Don't forget to have fun.”

“The thing about light is that it really isn’t yours; it’s what you gather and shine back. And it gets more power from reflectiveness; if you sit still and take it in, it fills your cup, and then you can give it off yourself.”

“Cáel sighed. “Look, right now? Either you want Rose, or you don’t. If you do—and, quite frankly, it’s obvious to me that you do—then give the woman a break and give yourself some credit for not being a whack job. Women are strange creatures, Gray, and she isn’t a mind reader. Who the hell knows what kind of conclusions she’s drawn over your behavior? Shit or get off the pot.”It was a good thing Gray wasn’t drinking anything, or he’d have choked on that one. “That’s your advice on love? ‘Shit or get off the pot’?”