15 Badass Quotes About Writing and Creativity That Are Depressing Yet Still Somehow Inspiring

Every one of these quotes fuels my writing. I hope they do the same for you.

Bobby Powers
5 min readJan 13, 2024

The inside cover of my journal (Image by the author)

I’m a sucker for quotes. Whenever I find one that’s particularly inspiring or impactful, I write it down in Obsidian and the front cover of my journal (pictured above).

But I’ve noticed that many of the most inspiring quotes simultaneously express two sentiments:

  1. Creative pursuits like writing are really freakin hard
  2. But this difficulty just makes the pursuit more worthwhile

Here are 15 of my favorite kick-you-in-the-butt motivational quotes for writers and creatives:

“You’re so privileged to be a writer. Normal people, something bad happens to them and there’s nothing they can do with it except feel bad or complain or press charges.” -David Sedaris

As a writer, failure is rich soil for growing heartfelt stories. Vulnerability is a powerful draw. Write down your biggest failures, then review the list to see which ones can be marshaled into relatable stories for your readers.

Bobby Powers
Bobby Powers

Written by Bobby Powers

1M+ views | Bylines in Fast Company, The Startup, etc. | Read 70+ books/year & write about Leadership, Books, & Productivity | Visit me at BobbyPowers.com

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