by Diandra Mae

Living a creative life can be a scary thing. You battle things like self-doubt, fear and resistance. You worry about never having another “good idea.” You can get caught up in reviews, the madness of sales stats or caught up in measuring yourself against others.

Don’t give in to that negativity.  When you choose this life as a creative, you must remember that what you are doing is important. That it is vital. That it is good work.  You must not lose focus on what is most important: the story.

When you work for the story you are trusting that your work matters and the universe will reward you with inspiration aplenty. When you work for the story you are telling those fears you’ve got more important things to do, and they will disappear.  When you work for the story, you are part of what is true.

So take up your pens, pencils, keyboards and styluses. Stare down that blank page or screen before you. Tell yourself, “I’ve got this” and get to work.

And since this month is all about inspiration, here are a few more of my favorite quotes on creativity:

“Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts, and never hope more than you work.”  ~ Rita Mae Brown

“You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” ~ Jack London

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” ~ John Steinbeck

“Another word for Creativity is Courage.” ~ George Prince

Diandra is generously giving away an 8×10 print of her “Bicycle Built for Two” illustration. Leave a comment to enter. A winner will be randomly selected in one week!

Diandra Mae is an author-illustrator who enjoys bringing a sense of playfulness and humor to the stories she illustrates and the picture books she writes. She is the Illustrator Coordinator for the Houston SCBWI chapter, as well as an active participant of The Sketchables and PictureThis! To see more of her work or just to say hi, visit her blog, website or tweet!