Gail Carson Levine Quotes

Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph. Until you get to page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety - it's the job.

Shut off the internal bashing.

I'm such a self-critic, that I find it hard to give myself credit for something.

You do not get into better shape being hard on yourself.

Stop shoulding on yourself

I don't hate myself, as a general rule. I'd say the best way to describe it is that I have moments of self-loathing at fairly regular intervals.

There's good self-consciousness, and then there's toxic, paralyzing, raped-by-psychic-Bedouins self-consciousness.

Do not nag yourself with a sense of failure

Self-judgment continues to arise - it's a strong habit - but the fact that I made a conscious commitment to recognize it has helped me stop feeding the story of being unworthy.

Self-judgment is how conditioned mind keeps control over your life.

We really damage our own confidence when we put ourselves down, so I try not to.

I'm crap and a fatty.

It's so easy to get caught up in your own self-doubt when you're writing. It can be so easy to tell yourself, "Who am I kidding?"

If you criticize what you’re doing too early you’ll never write the first line.

It's very easy to attack ourselves. Even comforting in its familiarity, but you must resist this urge at all costs. Dwelling on the past or your perceived flaws will do nothing but keep you under emotional house arrest and hamper your progress. Commit yourself to growth and reward yourself with kindness for choosing to do so!

Loving the self, to me, begins with never ever criticizing ourselves for anything. Criticism locks us into the very pattern we are trying to change. Understanding and being gentle with ourselves helps us to move out of it. Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.

I've tried writing. Two days later I'd go visit it and say, Jesus Christ, who wrote this crap?

It's way easier to write for other people. Yourself isn't in it. When you write for yourself, you overthink, and you become paranoid. When you write for others, it isn't about you.

I don't believe in writer's block. Think about it - when you were blocked in college and had to write a paper, didn't it always manage to fix itself the night before the paper was due? Writer's block is having too much time on your hands.

Don't be your own worst critic. If you're not confident in what you're saying, no one else will be either.

In my case, the long gaps between my books have got quite a lot to do with lack of confidence. A lot of the time when I'm not writing I start thinking I can't do it.

Every word I write I suspect the next day.

I am very self-critical and always will be. I think this makes me want to improve, always. But just because I'm self-critical and say what I thought of my performance in a game, it doesn't mean I will bring myself down, ever.

I never give myself enough credit.

Kindness to self will put you in the perfect attitude and position to be kind to others.