5 Words of Inspirational Encouragement for the Writer

It has been said time and again (but it bears repeating): “Writing is easy. Good writing is hard.” That’s the simple way of saying that we writers are challenged with perhaps the most difficult task in the world—creating a new, entirely-believable universe, populating it with countless lives to flesh-out and intertwine, and making the world a better place through our words, all whilst simultaneously entertaining readers and giving them something fresh and intriguing each time. The pen is truly mightier than the sword, and those who take it up must not be faint of heart.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take heart. Writing is one of the most rewarding essentials you can have in your life. Today, I want to encourage you with five words of inspiration. Take these thoughts with you when the writer’s blocks, criticisms, misunderstandings, discouragements, and plot holes arise.

1. “Your story is a gift, given to you, alone.”

Everyone is born with a gift. Writers are born with many. These gifts come in the form of stories. The stories that tumble through your brain, that keep you up late at night, that often weave themselves seamlessly together… they are gifts, given to you, alone. With each idea you are given, you are charged with the task of molding and shaping it into written word, and thus into meaning and external existence. It is your responsibility to give your gifts life, so that others can see their beauty as well. In this way, you are able to make your gifts manifest, just as one born with the gift of singing manifests this gift through song. No one else can tell the stories that you are given. Your stories choose you, because you are the only one who can tell them as they are meant to be told.

2. “You hold the mightiest weapon of all.”

The pen is mightier than the sword, not because it conquers, but because it convicts. It has the power to propose, challenge, and warn without threatening. A sword can effect only false, and often temporary, change through threatenings and forced conversions. The pen offers a challenge of self-examination, a choice to silently take a new path in life, and lastly a change that could forever alter the way you view yourself, others, and the world around you. The pen guides through gentle persuasion and direction, not by an iron fist and brute force.

Reach out to this power you carry and take hold of it. Wield it as it is meant to be.

3. “Your words will change the world.”

Just as every action creates a reaction, every word creates an impression. These collected impressions form attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors. When someone reads the words you pen, they are absorbing these impressions you create, along with the mental word-pictures and illustrations that you pose. The mind does not forget. It is the most impressionable feature that we possess.

You don’t need to be a best-selling author to change the world. Great or small—read by many or few—the words you compose will leave a footprint on the minds of your readers, and your readers will leave a footprint on the sands of time. The mere existence of the words you write will change the world, altering it in some way that it never would have been otherwise. Writers are world-changers. You are a writer. You are a world-changer.

4. “Your writing will change you.”

Delve deep into yourself. Seek out the things that are closest to your heart—the things that drive you, inspire you. Search for feelings and revelations that you could never put into words, and challenge yourself to try and pen them down anyway. Dare to be original. Dare to be yourself. Nobody else can be you.

Writing is a metamorphosis that changes the reader as much as the writer. As a wielder of the pen, you will find yourself continually faced with questions that demand answers—answers you must discover for yourself. Don’t be afraid to dive deep. No writer who ever penned the opening sentence of a novel has found himself unchanged by the novel’s final line. Writing is a part of who you are. Embrace it and the journey of self-discovery that it offers you.

5. “Your writing has meaning and purpose.”

You were born into this world for a reason—not just one, but many. As a writer, one of those reasons is to write—to change yourself, and your world, through words. Never let anyone tell you that it isn’t worth it or that you aren’t good enough. You have been given the great gift of writing. Use it to change the world. Choose to make this planet a better place because you dared to pursue your writing, against all odds and against all naysayers. You are a writer. You love what you do. Choose to continue doing it.

 

There is a divine plan laid out for your life and for your writing. Your stories and your musings have a place in this world, just as you yourself do. Follow the road less traveled. Take the first step on the thousand-mile journey. Keep moving forward. Look back, but don’t dwell on the past. Watch the horizon for the next road-sign on your path of purpose.

Your life is a story. Relish the descriptions, pause for the commas, search for the meanings, gasp at the plot twists, enjoy each day’s chapter, and trust in the Author above all else.

Love the stories you bring to life, and love your own life's story. There will never be another one like it.