Writer’s Block and the Refrigerator

What is the spark that ignites your creativity? What sets your imagination on fire, sending you to your laptop or notebook to record those thoughts before they fly away? What keeps you moving forward? This is the best part of writing, letting the words fly across the page as your characters take shape and you listen to them, you allow them to take over.

“I have fallen in love with the imagination. And if you fall in love with the imagination, you understand that it is a free spirit. It will go anywhere and it can do anything.” Alice Walker spoke these words in an interview in 2006. She is so much more than an author and a poet, and these particular words struck my soul.

When I first dipped my toe into the world of writing and publishing, I was amazed when my characters took over the narrative. There were times when I would argue with one of them, “You want to do what? How do you propose I write that from your POV when the story is written in the third person?” Don’t get me started on the whole POV topic.

For me, despite the arguments, I love this part of writing. I don’t hold back; it’s not me writing those scenes, it’s the characters I’ve created. But what happens when your protagonist leaves, taking your creativity with her? Do you find yourself pacing around the house, going down the social media rabbit hole, or staring inside your refrigerator? One very successful author told me she wound up renting an office space that didn’t have a refrigerator. I thought this was odd, but too many pounds later, I now know what she was referring to. Writer’s block!

What do you do when you find yourself with writer’s block? I’m pretty sure every author has experienced this phenomenon.

I’m struggling to write this essay. I feel uninspired, watching the wind and rain outside my window tempting me to go back to bed or get a snack from the refrigerator. I am suffering from writer’s block, or what I like to call my creative crash. Besides writing this essay, I am supposed to be working with my editor to finish the second round of edits for my third book and to move forward with the progress of my fourth book, which is currently in a rather underdeveloped state.

I suggest we try to look at writer’s block from the perspective of-our creativity is on a much-needed holiday. Our minds, just like our bodies, know what we need. If we are running on empty, we usually get sick. When we are overthinking everything, our mind shuts down.

So instead of getting frustrated and staring inside the refrigerator or mindlessly scrolling on social media, embrace what is happening or not happening and enjoy this temporary moment of a quiet mind.

I think that Alice Walker would agree that even our imagination and free spirit need time to rest, recover, and rejuvenate so we can get back to doing what we love. Write!

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Judy Lannon’s award-winning contemporary women’s fiction resonates with readers through its honest and relatable depiction of women and their life experiences. Her books Nine Days and The Making of Genevieve have been recognized by The American Writers Association for Best New Debut Fiction and Best Women’s Fiction, The Firebird Book Awards, The Pencraft Awards, and The New York City Big Book Awards. She has written essays for Women’s Writers, Women’s Books Magazine, and finds joy in meeting her readers at her Beyond the Book events, where she shares her inspiring story of entering the publishing world with no background and ultimately achieving recognition as an award-winning writer. 

Her third book, Callahan’s Cottage, will be released in the spring of 2025.

Judy lives on Cape Cod, MA near the Atlantic Ocean. Though she thinks it’s a cliché to say the ocean inspires her, she happily accepts that label because it’s a constant presence in her writing.

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Category: How To and Tips