Flourish Fully: Overcoming the Five False Beliefs That Keep Writers Stuck

For years, I thought flourishing meant momentum, fruit, and feeling strong and capable in every season.

Jan 30, 2026

But when I chose flourish as my word of the year in 2017, it was only a few weeks into the new year before God planted a picture of roots in my soul.

Ugh! Of course…

I chose the word longing for green leaves and branches overflowing with fruit and the sound of happy birds. But that can’t come without deep roots that carry nutriets through the whole tree—and keep it steady in the midst of every season.

As I’ve walked with writers for almost a decade, I’ve realized how much this applies not just spiritually but to our writing journey too.

Most writers who feel stuck aren’t lazy or undisciplined.

They’re often carrying responsibilities and burdens that crowd out creativity, along with false beliefs about what flourishing is supposed to look like. And false beliefs are like weeds: they choke out life, crowd the Son, and tangle you up inside.

Here are five of the most common false beliefs—and a better way forward.

1. Flourishing means everything is growing at once.

This belief is exhausting and quietly declares tells us that if one area of our life feels dry, we must be wrong: about our calling, our writing projects, and about the path we are walking.

But Scripture, and God’s creation, tells a different story.

Growth is seasonal, uneven and sometimes there’s even a strange mix of winter and spring happening at the same time (especially in the desert where I live).

You can be flourishing spiritually while your writing feels quiet.
You can be growing roots while nothing visible is happening yet.

Flourishing isn’t only when flowers bloom, sometimes it’s deepening and fields laying fallow to prepare for the next planting.

2. If God really called me, this wouldn’t feel so hard.

This false belief cuts deep. We subtly assume that calling equals ease and that obedience should feel obvious, energized, and affirmed.

But so much of Scripture tells the opposite story.

Calling often includes:
• waiting
• uncertainty
• resistance
• returning to ordinary faithfulness

Difficulty isn’t evidence against your calling. Often, it’s where trust and faith are being formed and expanded.

3. I need clarity before I can move forward.

Writers love clarity. It’s why we write and then edit: we want our words to shine and capture what was previously unsaid.

We crave certainty and long for a map to point out the steps for where we want to go.

But flourishing rarely begins with full understanding.

It begins with presence, listening and taking the next faithful step—even when the larger picture and results are unseen.

Clarity often comes after movement, not before.

4. If my writing mattered, it would already be visible.

This belief quietly ties worth to outcomes: numbers, book sales, and recognition.

But some of the most meaningful work is formed in obscurity:

Jesus spent decades unseen.
David was anointed long before he was crowned (more about this in my upcoming book).
Seeds grow underground long before they break the surface.

Visibility is not the measure of faithfulness.

5. Flourishing is a feeling: when I should feel confident and motivated.

This one sneaks in unnoticed.

We equate flourishing with emotional steadiness—confidence, inspiration, momentum.

But flourishing is not a feeling, it’s a posture and stance, that does not waver season to seaon:

It’s staying rooted when motivation wanes.
It’s returning again and again.
It’s showing up gently, imperfectly, and honestly.

Faithfulness doesn’t require constant confidence—only willingness.

A Different Definition of Flourishing

Flourishing as a writer and human is rooted work.

It’s learning to live and write from connection rather than pressure, from listening rather than striving, and from trust rather than fear.

Sometimes flourishing looks like growth. Seasons of rest are also flourishing and sometimes it looks like wandering through a desert of parched land.

You don’t have to journey alone.

If you’re a writer or creative longing for a slower and deeper way of growing—one that honors both your creative life and your soul—you’re not behind.

You may simply be in a different season than you expected.

Stay curious and keep writing.
Your words matter.

—Deanne

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