"Self-discipline is necessary, but so is playfulness, flexibility, joy. When you stop demanding..."

“Self-discipline is necessary, but so is playfulness, flexibility, joy. When you stop demanding perfection of yourself, your writing desk will become a spacious place. Slipperiness is good. Sloppiness is OK. Cultivate patience with your own uncertainty and doubt; a tolerance for bad writing; a willingness to let a story develop embryonically.”

- Karen Russell, on giving yourself room to write with joy.