Study the past if you would define the future. --CONFUCIUS
Steve BerryRead
Ninety-five percent of all writers who write do not get published, but 100 percent of all writers write because they have a voice in their head. The vast majority of writers simply write because they have to.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writers are driven by an inner compulsion to express themselves, regardless of the likelihood of getting published.
This quote by Steve Berry highlights the intrinsic motivation of writers who engage in their craft not for external validation or success, but because they possess an inherent need to express their thoughts and ideas. The statistic about publication rates serves to emphasize that the act of writing itself is more significant to the writer than the outcome of their work, suggesting that creativity often flourishes in the absence of expectation and that true passion for writing transcends mere achievement.
Themes
WritingVoiceMotivationCreativityPublication
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, I shared a quote by Steve Berry to inspire participants about the importance of writing for the sake of creativity rather than publication.
More from Steve Berry
All quotes βSimilar quotes
The moment the alarm goes off is the first test; it sets the tone for the rest of the day. The test is not a complex one: when the alarm goes off, do you get up out of bed, or do you lie there in comfort and fall back to sleep? If you have the discipline to get out of bed, you win - you pass the test.
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Our task is to become our best selves. One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final.
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You have to come up in the world before it's worthwhile for those worth less to put you down.
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I'm doing what I think I was put on this earth to do. And I'm really grateful to have something that I'm passionate about and that I think is profoundly important.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead
Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page a day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.
John SteinbeckRead
The odds were against me when I arrived at Central Arkansas. I was barely 6-foot-2 and didn't have a scholarship. But I always felt I could make it to the NBA; it was as if I had foreseen my future, and I knew I would make it.
Scottie PippenRead