Elaine Marie Cooper
I don’t think there is a writer among us who does not ask this question at least once: Will I ever write again?
The circumstances that might prompt such a self-reflection are numerous: A long illness, caregiving for a loved one, divorce, death in the family, losing one’s main source of income. The list could go one. Regardless of the details, it involves such an upset in our lives that the last thing we want to think about is pouring our energies into the written word. We are exhausted and stressed. It’s all we can do to survive emotionally and physically.
I’ve seen writers who underwent chemotherapy put aside their writing for months and even years. Yet once the “chemo fog” lifts, I’ve seen their muse come to life, bigger and better than ever. Just today I saw a Facebook post from someone re-discovering her gift after a long absence due to illness. I recently experienced a complete lack of enthusiasm to write when I underwent weeks of surgeries, pain and illness. Now that I’m on the other side, the joy of writing has returned. For a writer, it is a blessing beyond any other.
Perhaps you are in the middle of a major crisis that has not just dampened but has destroyed your desire to write. Take heart. God is not finished with inspiring your muse. Perhaps He is plowing the field of your mind with fertile soil. The pain you’ve endured may sprout into words you might never have written without undergoing the very circumstances that withered your desire in the first place.
Keep reading during your time of drought. Read whatever ministers to you in both fiction and non-fiction. Read for pleasure. Write reviews online of the books you read to help other authors. Read God’s Word. And when you emerge out of the darkness, look for the light of God’s inspiration and draw strength from Him. He Who created your gift will not leave it void.
Image of sad woman on sofa courtesy of marin, via freedigitalphotos.net
Image of hands typing via suphakit73, via freedigitalphotos.net