Motivation from Masters: Ray Bradbury

If I can’t inspire you, maybe some successful writers can. Today’s Motivation from Masters post features Ray Bradbury.

Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer.

That really says it all, doesn’t it? Personally, I really find Bradbury’s work inspiring, so I love quotes from him. Here are some others I love:

“First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!”

“Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me.After the explosion, I spent the rest of the day putting the pieces together.”

“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”

“I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true – hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.”

“My stories run up and bite me on the leg – I respond by writing down everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off.”

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”

Photo by Alan Light.