Here’s some practical advice to help my writer friends get the week off to a good start: “You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” —Jodi Picoult

When you think your story plot is lame or your writing generally sucks, remember this advice from Anne Lamott and just keep writing: “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.”

If you aspire to succeed at writing, one quick point to remember in those dark moments when you’re discouraged and tempted to give up: “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” —Richard Bach

Sad but true, I have spent much of my life waiting for inspiration instead of writing. If you want to write, do it—don’t make excuses for why you can’t. Remember: “If you wait for inspiration to write, you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.”