Spring is here in Utah! I always think of my grandma during this time as she loved tulips and fancy Easter tea parties. She got all her grandkids giant chocolate eggs filled with buttercream, raspberry, or caramel. Our names were written on the top with blue and pink pastel frosting. I always picked caramel. It was a beautiful treat, that you almost didn’t want to eat, but that didn’t last long. When I start to ponder moments with her, I also remember the very last thing she said to me. One that has stuck in my core. One that quite often I remind myself to do and need to be reminded often. “Don’t forget to follow your dreams. Please take care of my girl too,” she’d said.

My grandma knew me very well and she had seen my love for taking care of those around me. She adored that, but she worried to know end that I would always put myself last. I promised her before she passed that I would make myself a priority and follow my dreams. That, seven years ago, was the day I began taking myself and my writing seriously.

Now, that we’re a few months into 2018 sometimes goals and motivation start to lag, and we need to be reminded to keep going. Follow our passions. Push through what feels to be impossible. Show yourself what you’re made of and write all those beautiful words.

Each day throughout April, write a quote on an index card and post it somewhere so you can see it, or you can read it out loud, if you’d rather. Let’s spring our writing forward with motivation, inspiration, and allow ourselves to see where we’re growing, not where we’re falling short. Here’s a selection of quotes to get you jumping forward.

• Write with confidence because your opinions count—Chloe Henderson
• One of the key joys about being a writer is that everyone seems to do it slightly different—Marcus Sedgwick
• Keep your writing time sacred—Chloe Henderson
• It is a delicious thing to write, to be no longer yourself but to move in an entire universe of your own creation— Gustave Flaubert
• As soon as you start to pursue a dream, your life wakes up and everything has meaning— Barbara Sher
• The prerequisite for me is to keep my well of ideas full. This means living as full and varied a life as possible— Michael Morpurgo
• As is the case with anything that requires hard work, the more you do it the better you will become. Write as often as possible, and don’t feel you need to carry on from where you left off-you could write a scene that appears later, then you have the exciting puzzle of how to get from where you are to that scene—Chloe Henderson
• Enjoy the process of writing and what you learn about yourself—Chloe Henderson
• The secret of getting ahead is getting started— Mark Twain
• I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still— Sylvia Plath
• I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all— E.B. White
• Break routine occasionally and surprise yourself by doing a new activity or exploring somewhere new. People-watching can be very inspiring to a writer. Imagine the stories people must tell, where they are going and what their dreams are—Chloe Henderson
• Dream your idea into being. Don’t force it—Chloe Henderson
• One must be drenched in words . . . to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment— Hart Crane
• If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is— Richard Rhodes
• Even the great writers admit to poor first drafts. You’re in good company—Chloe Henderson
• I’ve found it helpful to spend time with my writing project like it is a person rather than a thing— Gilmore Tamny
• Use your own experiences both good and bad—as fuel for your writing—Chloe Henderson
• It’s better to write something imperfect that you could improve on later, then stare at a piece of paper (or a screen) waiting for “the muse” to inspire you—Deborah Nam-Krane
• You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you’ve got something to say— F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Like life, your characters will need to go through highs and lows in order to appear as real as possible to the reader, and so that the reader will root for them and be interested enough to know what happens to them—Chloe Henderson
• Look inside yourself, then beyond yourself and see that everyone has a unique story to tell-what’s yours—Chloe Henderson
• I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means— Joan Didion
• The good writer seems to be writing about himself, but has his eye always on that thread of the universe which runs through himself and all things—Ralph Waldo Emerson
• If you have an idea just before going to bed, write it down or text/email it to yourself- because you won’t remember it in the morning—Chloe Henderson
• Allow yourself to make mistakes—Chloe Henderson
• Look for inspiration in your own work—seek out small clues in your writing that you can develop—Chloe Henderson
• Don’t just celebrate your big wins. Celebrate for your failures, losses, and every little step you take that leads to the big steps. They’re all important in your personal journey—Lauri Schoenfeld

Learn from the rainstorms and remember they help to make things blossom! Keep writing and finish those stories. People are waiting to hear yours.

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Lauri Schoenfeld’s first love is her little clan of three silly kidlets and her wonderful hubby, Andy. Writing is a close second. She began writing poems at the age of nine, and her love for literature and music developed into composing thirty songs.  In 2014 her short story, Christmas Treasure, was featured in an anthology called, Angels from their Realms of Story.  Her favorite genre to write is anything dark, psychological, and suspenseful, but she enjoys expanding her horizons and dipping her feet in other genres as well.  Lauri teaches summer writing classes for kids and mentors teens throughout the year. She’s a Child Abuse and Scoliosis Survivor. Lauri runs a group for teen girls with Scoliosis called, The S Squad. Their motto is Strength, Support and Self Confidence.  She’s been known to dance around the house with a spoon as her microphone and sneak toppings from the ice cream bar. Lauri’s taken online classes at the Institute of Children’s Literature and was the President of the League of Utah Writers, Oquirrh Chapter for two years.  She’s a member of Crime Writers and International Thriller Writers.