Beth Lyons

If you hear a voice within you say ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. ~ Vincent Van Gogh The Chinese poet Lao Tzu wrote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Your writing journey doesn’t begin when you put words on paper. It starts earlier than that: it begins when you claim the title Writer. You have stories within you; you must otherwise you wouldn’t be here, reading this right now. You have stories within you, but maybe you can’t get them to come out. Maybe you jot a …Read more »

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb…. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. ~ Calvin Coolidge Perhaps it’s unusual to look to a president for writing advice, but Silent Cal sums up the grit you need to write. That writing is lonely work is a cliche, except that it’s true. And even more, writing is screaming into the void. You have no idea, as you are putting words on the page, if anyone will ever read them. …Read more »

“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.” ~ Virginia Woolf While there could be many reasons why someone starts writing a piece of fiction and then never finishes it, one big factor is other people. Other people! Whether people we know or the faceless specter of The Reader, other people and their opinion, reaction, perception can derail even the most motivated of writers. The Virginia Woolf quote comes from A Room of Own’s Own and whatever else the essay may do, this powerful quote transcends gender and circumstance. We must write …Read more »

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” — Stephen King Sign on the door says: “Imagination Wanted”. Some days, I will walk through that door with confidence to spare. Some days, not so much. It’s easy to imagine that other writers — writers like Stephen King — spend their days in an imagination-fueled dream while we fiddle around with fonts (or worse – close the computer all together!) and wait for an idea to hit us. You can’t wait for imagination to find you — you have to look for it, and …Read more »