Guest Post: Cathryn Johnson on Inspiration

Filed under General • 26-07-2010 •

In this guest post, Cathryn Johnson looks to the science fiction greats for inspiration:

Great Writers – Inspiration from the Science Fiction Greats
By Cathryn Johnson

Writing is a wonderful profession. And writing science fiction may be the most exciting type of writing out there. But, all writers hit mental blocks from time to time. No matter how hard we try to write, the words just don’t come. It is at times like these that we need inspiration. We need encouragement to free our minds and get the creative juices flowing once again.

I have found the greatest inspiration comes from those who have walked in our shoes. Because it is those who can truly understand us. It is those who can show us the way. So, as we as writers persevere to move forward in our writing, why not turn back and gain inspiration from other writers who have faced the same obstacles that we face, given all for their passion, and succeeded despite the odds.

Here are ten quotes from some of the greatest science fiction writers of the past century that I have compiled to challenge, motivate and inspire us:

Science fiction is the most important literature in the history of the world, because it’s the history of ideas, the history of our civilization birthing itself. …Science fiction is central to everything we’ve ever done, and people who make fun of science fiction writers don’t know what they’re talking about.
Ray Bradbury (1920-present) – a fantasy, horror, science fiction and mystery writer who is best known for his novel, Fahrenheit 451

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) – a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, most famous for the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey

Don’t ever become a pessimist… a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) – an American science fiction writer, often called “the dean of science fiction writers”

Don’t try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night.
Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) – an American science fiction novelist, short story writer, and essayist, whose stories have been adapted into popular films including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly and Minority Report.

Everything starts as somebody’s daydream.
Larry Niven (1938-present) – an American science fiction author whose best-known work is Ringworld, which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards

Books aren’t written—they’re rewritten. Including your own. It’s one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.
Michael Crichton (1942-2008) – an author, producer, director and screen writer whose most well known works include Jurassic Park and Rising Sun

The fortune of the man who sits also sits.
Philip Jose Farmer (1918-2009) – an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories which include the World of Tiers and Riverworld series

The only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself.
Ursula K. Guin (1929-present) – an American science fiction and fantasy author whose award winning works include the Earthsea and Hainish Cycle series

Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) – an award-winning American science fiction writer and professor of biochemistry, whose best-known work is the Foundation series