Writer’s Block—When the Words Won’t Come

by Emme Gannon @GannonEmme

Nothing was working. I’d paced, took a long walk, sat in the garden and daydreamed, even succumbed to a soothing cup of tea. Words still eluded me. Fear leaped into my heart and I wondered if this was it. Had my writing finally dried up and my years of weaving words into stories come to an end? A drab end, to be sure. Never accomplishing all I had dreamed of, hoped for, or imagined. 

Was God moving me away from creating words to something else? Like Peter, who was once a fisherman, or Paul a tentmaker. Or, was I like Jonah, who God had called but who at first ran from God’s call. No matter how large or small the mission, when Jesus calls, we follow or run. What was this struggle going on in my soul?

Why these feelings? 

Asking why unlocks a plethora of emotions, all signposts which can lead to the reason we run from who we are. The coping mechanisms and self-talk begin to dissolve with the light of exposure. 

As is true with all we do, we lock up when our internal self casts doubt. Doubt is like a storm that transforms us from a productive person to one beset by internal roadblocks. Our image cracks. Then we run and hide. We cease to believe in ourselves. We think we’ve failed. Then we do the worst possible thing—we compare our writing to others. By doing so we remove our strength, our individuality, our very writing voice. 

Overcoming writer’s block is not a simple process.

Often the block is birthed in our contrived image of ourselves and what we seek to accomplish. I stared at a blank screen for too long before my fingers started tapping the keys—words that only came when I remembered that it is God that ordains my image, my calling, my stories. Reconnecting with our unique way of writing frees us to write again. 

By allowing the Lord to give His wisdom, strength, and direction, we will begin to break free from the bondage of an emotional block of any kind, thus being free to write what brings us joy, not just what the market is demanding at the time. Our words will then have passion as we dig deep from a heart yielded to God.

There are days when life shuts us down and all we can do is look to heaven, raise our arms like a child, and cry, “Help!” We wait in silence for an answer, not knowing that all the time Jesus has been by our side, attending to us with deep love, and waiting for our surrender. We may never write a famous novel to achieve star status, but our words will be ours, woven by the Master’s design. 

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Emme Gannon is a wife, mother, and grandmother who loves to write stories that stir the heart. Her award-winning writing has appeared in Focus on the Family magazine, several anthologies, and numerous newsletters. She just completed her first novel.