Praying Through Writer’s Block

[Dan R. Crawford]

In the midst of my third pandemic book, I developed writer’s block.  Wikipedia defines this as “a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown.” When we were first told to shelter in place, I was extremely frustrated so I asked God what I was supposed to do with my calling, since I couldn’t go anywhere.  When I said “Amen” and looked up, my eyes fell on some of the books I had previously authored, and it was as if God said, “You don’t have to go anywhere to write.”  So I wrote my first pandemic book, “Praying through the Beatitudes,” then I co-authored a second book, “Crisis Care Crisis Prayer” which is currently with the publisher.  In the midst of my third book, “Praying Through the Seven Churches and Beyond,” I hit the wall.  I developed writer’s block.  What does one do when he sits at the computer and the mind is as blank as the page in front, while the cursor mocks with its repeated blinking?  I sought out what other, writer’s said about writer’s block.  Charles Bukowski, a German--American poet, novelist, and short-story writer, said, “Writing about a writer's block is better than not writing at all.” Another writer said, “If you have writer’s block, write about having writer’s block, and you will no longer have it.” Those ideas, plus the words of another writer, the Apostle Paul, helped relieve my anxiety and get me back to writing.  Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” So, I prayed my way through my writer’s block, even as I wrote about it, and onward I went.  If you read my third pandemic book, look for the place where I suffered writer’s block, and how I prayed through it. It might even help you next time you suffer this condition.