Wow – I was hit with a hu
ge case of writer’s block yesterday morning as I got ready to post a new blog. I panicked. Maybe it was the previous five days of VBS and having to be energetic and creative every day for a crowd of 3 to 12 year olds. Maybe it was arriving at work and discovering the storm over the weekend had taken out 8 trees and flooded several areas on our campus. Maybe it was catching my husband drinking directly from the ice tea container. Maybe it was just the Monday blahs.
I began to stress about it by 2:00 p.m and panic about it around 4:00 p.m. I did rough something out but I scrapped it because it was not upbeat enough.
When my husband suggested an evening motorcycle ride with a stop for dinner I thought, “Perfect.” The fresh air always stimulates the brain and I was sure I’d return with a plethora of blog ideas. I didn’t.
I am radically goal oriented and when I started my blog I made a commitment to post every Monday and every Friday. If I couldn’t come up with something before midnight I would officially have failed. I racked my brain, thumbed through magazines, brainstormed and prayed. Nothing.
I woke twice in the night stressing about my failure. I begged God to give me inspiration. I actually had a minor panic attack about 3:00 a.m. thinking maybe my creative juices had run out forever and I’ll never have another idea or bright thought again.
I woke this morning with the blog on my mind and I still hadn’t come up with anything. So here I am writing about not being able to write. That’s really pulling from the bottom of the barrel. It’s like turning on the oven when the power has gone off or singing about not being able to sing. It’s like shopping when all the stores are closed. Very unsatisfying and very unproductive.
Here’s what I’m doing about it so I won’t be in this position come Friday:
- Trying not to panic
- Thinking of other irritating things my spouse does besides drink right from the container. (I only add this because I realize I could fill a blog with my list.)
- Listening to every conversation wherever I go to try and net a fragment of an idea (if you are within hearing distance – watch out!)
- Looking around everywhere I go for beauty or funny or poignant – any of which could trigger an idea
- Giving it to God (picking it up again, giving it to God, picking it up again, etc)
- Believing this is only a temporary lull in my otherwise cacophony filled brain
- Reading back over past writings to remind myself I do have a gift
- Praying
- Repeating Matthew 6:27 (Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?) and inserting the words “or a single word to your blog”
So – if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. I can honestly say I do not ever remember being hit by writer’s block before so I’m a novice at recovering.
