5 Ways To Handle a Hard Season When Writing Feels Impossible and Words Won’t Come

It’s lonely in the dry and barren place where words won’t come — when your gut feels empty and the page feels emptier with every attempt to write what’s heavy on your heart.

Do you know this place too? Have you found your writing to be more duty than the delight it once was when words effortlessly flowed from your pen? 

It’s enough to make us worried and weary as we wrestle with whatever is blocking our words in this season. It feels like we’re all dried up and need a dam to break before we can birth something new on the page. When the inkwell of our souls dries up, let’s dig deep, shake off the dust, and dare to believe God for a breakthrough in our barren place.

Friend, I’ve been there. After crying every day for months on end when my mom passed away in May 2023, my soul was left emptied out. Words simply would not come. Writing was hard. When I’d sit at my desk to complete an assignment, things only got worse. I’d look down to find 45 minutes had vanished and my tear-stained page was filled with gibberish. Caregiving had left my imagination dry and my heart broken.

Maybe there’s something in your life messing with your once-polished wordsmithing — turning it into a mixed-up or nonexistent message too. It doesn’t have to be something as dramatic as losing a parent; it can be the busyness of single parenting, working full time, a summer cold or the monthly blues.

Sometimes, we have days, weeks or long, dry seasons where writing doesn’t come easy. While I can’t make your gift of gab magically flow onto the page, I’d love to share with you a few things I learned in my recent dry spell. Honestly, I didn’t let anyone know how hard it was to write during this desert season. I wish I had had someone to tell me it would end; my words would soon flow instead of my tears. Whatever is drying up your words, know this: It’s not forever. Here are five ways to handle a hard season when writing feels impossible and your words won’t come:

1. Give yourself grace. Take time to grieve, and when necessary, take a break (a social media one if needed. I took a four-month sabbatical).

2. Ask for a pass. As a writer here on the COMPEL Pro Blog, I asked for a break, and they graciously agreed to let me skip my quarterly spot. (Thanks, y’all.)

3. Know your limits. Learn to say “no” for a season. It’s OK to say, “Not now.”

4. Start back slowly. Pick something you’re passionate about, and pitch your writing idea to a good friend as a guest blog. Then, you won’t have to do the posting … just the writing. It’ll feel more fun. Make sure to give yourself a doable deadline. This way, the pressure of posting is off of you.

5. Believe in God’s timing. At the right time, your words will flow again. Keep asking God to refresh you, and keep showing up to write when you feel ready.

Writing can be both really hard and rewarding. In the in-between times, choose to believe God and watch your words break through the barren place, bursting onto the page when you least expect it.

In His timing,

Amy Elaine Martinez