1. There are a lot of stories already out there, but there can never be too many of YOUR stories out there.

2. Being unique isn’t about telling a story that has never been told, it is about telling a story from a perspective people can both relate to and learn from.

3. No one writes like you write. You may have a style inspired by other writers and stories you love, but there is only one you, and only one voice through which the stories you write are told.

4.  If you are thinking about giving up because of something someone else did or said (or didn’t say or didn’t do), take some time to consider your choice. No one technically has the right to tell you which dream you can and cannot follow, and anyone who tries is just not nice.

5. One bad day is not enough of a reason to give up. Not two bad days or two bad weeks or two bad years, either. Life is rough, and it’s tough to handle. But that does not mean you have to stop writing — or that, if you do, your hiatus has to last forever.

6. Just because multiple people aren’t constantly praising you for your work does not mean you aren’t doing good work. Much of the work you will do as a writer will go unnoticed by the masses. This is the way of things. Keep doing good work.

7. Good work does not always “pay off” in the way you want or expect it to. We all want recognition and compensation — it’s stilly to try and pretend we do not. But sometimes the rewards you do get for your efforts will be very small, and/or unexpected or unconventional. This does not mean these rewards do not count.

 

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8. People are not always going to have nice things to say about you or the things you publish. That is not your fault. People often attempt to spread hatred out of fear, out of jealousy, out of guilt, and for a seemingly endless number of reasons that usually have nothing to do with you personally.

9. A dream doesn’t have to be “big” or “challenging” to matter. If your biggest dream is to have a blog all your own, and you accomplish that, then who cares if there are thousands of other blogs out there? You started your own blog! You did an amazing thing! You should be proud of that.

10. Someone out there is looking for the story you haven’t written yet. You don’t want to let them down, do you? DO YOU?

11. Don’t give up simply because you are tired. Rest. There is a big difference between taking a break so that you can recharge and giving up because you don’t know how. Give yourself the break you deserve.

12. You can always start again. Even if you have to walk away or set aside the book you were working on. Starting over is always an option, and it is nothing to be ashamed of, not even a little bit.

 

 

Meg is the creator of Novelty Revisions, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words. She is a freelance writer and an eight-time NaNoWriMo winner with work published in Teen Ink, Success Story, Lifehack and USA TODAY College. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about writing, food and nerdy things.