Earthlings Are Watching

You need to write, but you don’t feel like it. You have nothing to say, nowhere to start. You have a deadline, or a great idea, yet your brain is clogged. Some call it writer’s block. Best-selling author Jodi Picoult said,

“I don’t believe in writer’s block. Think about it—when you were blocked in college and had to write a paper, didn’t it always manage to fix itself the night before the paper was due? Writer’s block is having too much time on your hands.”

Jodi Picoult Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2020+.

That may be true, but for those of us with “too much time on our hands,” these suggestions might help.

Just Start

Get your coffee or tea, sit down at your desk, and pray! Then start writing. Compose a prayer if nothing else comes to mind. When your head is full of negative emotions, get all of your angst out onto the paper, such as, “I can’t think of a blessed thing to write about, and maybe I should quit writing anyway. Nobody wants to read what I write.”

Yes, we’ve all been there. Get it out and then move on. It may even be useful later for something like a column on “Writer Encouragement.” Just start somewhere, and as you do, chances are the Spirit will take over and lead you into something interesting God wanted you to say. Somewhere, in the midst of all of the mess you just spewed onto the paper, nuggets of gold may be hiding.

Give Thanks

Giving thanks may overcome writer’s block. List the myriad ways you are blessed. “I am thankful for the good health to sit in my chair and type.” When you have a deadline, “I am thankful someone wants my writing.” If you don’t have a deadline, “I am thankful for having all the time I need to do an excellent job.” Once you start the flow, it will become easier to keep going.

I have nine little blessings, ages one to fourteen, and they motivate me to write. After I wrote the first children’s book starring my granddaughter, my other grandchildren expected one as well. Everyone may not be blessed with grandchildren, but it may help to list the people you love. Consider how you want to write for their sakes—to encourage them, dedicate a book to them, leave a legacy of beautiful family stories, make them proud.

 Remember the Witnesses

A family trip to Red River Gorge, a famous rock-climbing spot in Kentucky, reminded me of an important truth. We were climbing a dangerous outcropping of rocks together. My adult children climbed ahead of me, offering a hand up when needed, and my husband stayed behind. I plastered my body against the slippery surface and slowly hoisted my weight from one tiny foot-hold indention in the rock to the next. My legs shaped angles they hadn’t formed in years. With plenty of help, I struggled through it.

With the final rise conquered under my feet, I realized a group of young climbers had been waiting above, watching and cheering me on! It reminded me of Hebrews 12:1.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

Throw off all distractions—cell phones, the voice of the enemy, dirty laundry, alphabetizing the spice rack—and get to it. Remember, heaven is watching, and not only heaven, but earthlings as well!

In 1996, Susan E. Brooks moved to Mozambique, Africa, with her family where she taught art and English at an international high school and started journaling about her adventures. Twenty-six of the stories of struggles and victories in Mozambique are now published on her blog in a series entitled “Mozambican Odyssey.” She has since lived in Portugal, Ghana, and Cyprus, as well as in her home state of Kentucky, USA.

Meanwhile, nine grandchildren have come along, and she is inspired to write and illustrate a children’s book for each of them. Susan has self-published four children’s books so far.

In recent years, her stories have been published by Peace Catalyst International and in an anthology entitled Prayer Warrior Confessions. Follow Susan’s adventures and her art on her websiteL susanebrooks.com, Facebook susanbrooksart, and on Instagram @sebrooks81.