Tell me what you want, what you really, really want by Jane Walters

There’s a little phrase that’s been cropping up in my music teaching for a while now and I’m finding that its influence is kind of leaking into other areas. It’s that moment when you ask a question and you can see the pupil’s face contort as the internal wrestling begins. Do I know the answer? Have we even covered this before? Will I look a complete twit if I say the wrong thing? And here’s where the little phrase makes its appearance as I ask, “What do you want to say?”

It’s amazing what happens when it registers that they have permission to speak out their instinctive response without worrying whether it’s right. First of all, I see them relax. The tension falls away and a certain brightness comes back into the eyes. “I want to say…” and, when they do, the vast majority of the time they are right. (It works pretty well in quizzes, by the way. Give it a try.)

I’ve had one of my WIPs on the burner for quite a while now. It’s on a topic I feel passionate about and familiar enough with to pass on some learned wisdom. I started, back at the end of 2019, with enthusiasm levels high. A couple of chapters flowed fairly well before drying to a trickle far sooner than I imagined. Frustrated, I prayed and tried again; prayed and tried yet again; but nothing was happening. So, I did what all good writers do (do they? I really hope it’s not just me…) and started a different project, which I did manage to complete. It didn’t stop the niggle, though, that I “should” be writing that book.

I don’t know when it occurred to me, but it changed everything. Sitting down to write a few weeks ago, deliberately resisting the temptation to re-read what I’d abandoned, I found myself asking the question: What do I really want to say? In that moment, all of the pressure dissipated. I no longer had readers (or critics) in mind, and certainly not publishers. Instead, it was just me and God – and the freedom to write what I really wanted to say.

The result was curious. I began writing on a topic which was certainly relevant to the book but which I hadn’t thought to include. My fingers picked up speed as my heart was quickened at the thought of Bible passages that would illustrate my points. I was back in the flow. And all because I asked myself that question.

Try it yourself: as you write today, ask “What do I really want to say?

Jane Walters, author and broadcaster, is leading two writing retreats this Autumn. For more details go to her website: www.janewyattwalters.com or email her at vice-chair@christianwriters.co.uk