My lovely friend Zoe posted this in our writers' group and I love it. It's from Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the amazing Eat, Pray, Love.
As for discipline – it’s important, but sort of over-rated. The more
important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because
your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always
disappoint you. You will make vows: “I’m going to write for an hour
every day,” and then you won’t do it. You will think: “I suck, I’m such
a failure. I’m washed-up.” Continuing to write after that heartache of
disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness
(which comes from a place of kind and encouraging and motherly love).
The other thing to realize is that all writers think they suck. When I
was writing “Eat, Pray, Love”, I had just as a strong a mantra of THIS
SUCKS ringing through my head as anyone does when they write anything.
But I had a clarion moment of truth during the process of that book.
One day, when I was agonizing over how utterly bad my writing felt, I
realized: “That’s actually not my problem.” The point I realized was
this – I never promised the universe that I would write brilliantly; I
only promised the universe that I would write.
* Anyone - apart from Suzi, Sarah and my sister - remember this?
