10 gorgeous art prints that will bring you focus and clarity

10 gorgeous art prints for writers: the best art prints for writers to bring focus + clarity!


Here’s a thing I do all the time: think about something I have to do, think about another thing I have to do, think about TEN more things I really have to do, panic and worry, start to feel like life is one long to-do list, trudge through it.

Let me tell you, it’s super fun.

The funny thing is that I can do this about anything. Beautiful honeymoon in Greece? A long weekend to catch up on errands? As soon as I have a list or schedule in front of me, I switch into checking-off-the-boxes mode and out of enjoying-life mode.

Basically, I can turn absolutely anything into a to-do instead of a fun experience.

That’s why I need constant reminders—and I mean daily wallops across the head—that I need to take things one thing at a time and focus.

art prints for writers

Focus is my holy grail. And according to a study done by the Journal of the Association of Consumer Research, us Americans are losing focus daily just by being near our smartphones. (I hope I’m not the only one who glanced guiltily at my phone when I read that.) 

So if you’re also craving some focus and clarity this month, and you’re finally ready to do That Most Important Thing and actually enjoy the doing, then I have 10 sweet little reminders to get you through it.

These 10 gorgeous art prints for writers will bring you focus and clarity—save them as your screen background, or computer background, or print and hang them by your workspace.

Wherever these inspiring art prints for writers end up, I hope they help you remember that life is anything but one long to-do list.

10 gorgeous art prints for writers and creatives

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A free John Burroughs printable art print on books

A free printable art print with the famous John Burroughs quote on books: “I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.”


When I was 21, I walked into the lobby of Simon & Schuster for the first time. I remember stopping to look at the lit glass displays of books lining the front hallway and thinking “Wow. This is where they make them. I’m going to be working on books.”

Books. The word still has magic for me.

I remember the first time a Senior Editor handed me a manuscript as an editorial assistant and said, “Here. You edit this one.” I thought even the word “manuscript” was amazing–here I was, a very regular girl from suburban New Jersey, working on a manuscript. For a book. Those two words were so sweet, and I loved rolling them over in my mind like a jolly rancher.

At that first editorial assistant job, I had amazing women mentoring me, and they actually let me do books–they let me acquire a big book from Animal Planet; they let me have my own list of authors; they never once put me through the phone-answering and schedule-handling years that most assistants have to go through.

I couldn’t believe how cool their jobs were. So I decided right then: I was going to be a Senior Editor by the time I was thirty. That was my goal, and I was going to get there, have that job, and do all the exciting things the editors I admired were doing.

In two weeks, I turn thirty. I’m not a Senior Editor at a publishing house–even better, I’m a Literary Agent to a whole crew of authors I get to call mine. I get to do all those exciting things that go into making a book, and I get to live a life that seems more awe-inducing by the day. It’s a little weird, honestly. It makes me sappy just thinking about how very good it all is.

Tomorrow, Jarrett and I leave for a week in El Salvador with Habitat for Humanity. I don’t have a clue what to expect–I mean, guys, I have a desk job. I’m an Olympic level sitter. With a bronze medal for lying on the couch and reading.

I’m going to be a puddle of wobbly bits by Day 1, but if I can squeegee myself back together, I’ll be back next week to catch up with you all. But in the meantime, here’s a new printable art print to tide us over and add to our collection! Last week I wrote about how much I love this John Burroughs quote:

“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.”

And so I turned it into an art print, so we can all stare out the window and daydream about having the gift of enough time.

john burroughs quote books printable

Click here to access the archive & download this free John Burroughs quote art printable!

 

Get one free tip for reading more + living better each week!


The c&b gift guide is here!

By the way, if you’re feeling like you don’t have enough time and the holidays are getting stressful, my 2017 Gift Guide for Writers and Book Lovers is just what you need. It shows you how to give–or ask for–the gift of time. It’s perfect for ending the year on a creative note and then starting the new year feeling replenished and reinvigorated.

Click here to check out the 2017 Gift Guide for Writers & Book Lovers!

 


We’ll be back next week with publishing links and dinner plans, but if you want to follow along on our trip to El Salvador, follow me on Instagram!

Cheers!

 

10 quotes that remind us how much we love books (+ free book art print)

The best famous writers’s inspirational quotes about life, writing, books, and reading.

I walked into my favorite bookstore last week, and I was immediately hit by a wave of relief. I stood at the front of the store, looking at a table covered in books, feeling a weight lifting from me.

There was something so luxurious and indulgent about having 15 whole minutes to take in the store, to wander from shelf to shelf and see all the beauty and knowledge bound up and displayed.  I had only a few minutes to pick up a gift before the parade of to-dos set in for the day, but as soon as I got that first breath of bookstore air, I stopped checking my phone and my clock.

i have always thought of paradise as a library quote art print

Isn’t there just something magical about walking in a bookstore? There’s something holy and sacred about it to me, and sometimes it catches my breath how good it feels. It feels like the whole world laid out before me, thousands of interesting voices and people and places and wisdom and adventures to pluck into an afternoon.

It reminds me why I believe in books, and it reminds me why it’s important that writers keep writing and keep sharing their work.

I also know how easy it is to lose sight of that.

Trust me: when you’re working on the nitty gritty of making a physical book, it’s easy to lose touch of that end payoff, that holding-the-book-and-feeling-the-magic moment that we all work so hard for.

But over many years of working on books and flowing through cycles of inspiration and overwhelm, I’ve found that there are other ways to keep the magic alive, even when you can’t get yourself some time to soak up a bookstore.

And by far, one of my favorite ways to get book inspiration is by scrolling through Pinterest (follow me there!) and finding inspiring quotes from writers and cute illustrations about the book lover’s life. (For instance, how cute is this book art?!)

The quotes, especially, give me such a jolt of remembering why I do what I do. And since I love saving my favorite inspirational quotes and turning them into book art, I created this printable art print with the Jorge Luis Borges quote, “I have always imagined paradise to be a kind of library.” You can download it for free here!

I have always imagined paradise as a library jorge luis borges quote

Download this free book art print here!

 

And in case you also need a little more motivation and inspiration today, here are my 10 best inspirational quotes about writing, as well as my favorite quotes about books and reading. I hope they remind you how good being a book lover can be!

10 Quotes That Remind Us How Much We Love Books

best quotes by writers about books

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