I wrote in the War of Art that I could divide my life neatly into two parts: before turning pro and after. After is better.

This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers don’t. When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us. The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight. When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete.

Be too dumb to quit and too stubborn to back off.

It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.

Start before you’re ready. Good things happen when we start before we’re ready.

We will have to choose between the life we want for our future and the life we have left behind.

...she (the artist, the writer) doesn't wait for inspiration, she acts in the anticipation of its apparition.