Imagine a writer. Right now, go ahead. Paint a mental picture of a writer. You probably think of some lonely person with crazy hair, tapping away on a typewriter inside a cabin, lost in the woods. Many writers pull up a laptop in the middle of their living room and start tapping away.

Writing doesn’t just mean Pulitzer Prize-winning authors or Harry Potter novels. It’s much, much more than that. A writer writes to express their vision of the world.

A writer sees everything around them as a tool for creativity and expression. However, not everyone adores the writing process as a writer. You may be one of those people who hate to write. When you give a birthday card the recipient is lucky you’ve signed it much less written any good wishes.

Maybe you wonder how anyone could find pleasure in writing. The answer may have you taking up a pen or clicking a blank word document. Writing is powerful to both you and your readers.

Writing is Thinking

Writing exercises your brain. When you write you must think logically and clearly. You must use your senses and refine your observation skills. You have to practice internal reflection, do some analysis and then creatively craft all those things into a form of communication.

It is critical thinking at it’s finest. When you write, you must use a higher level of thinking. As we go about our day to day activities, we are consuming a flood of information. Our brain can’t possibly hold and process every experience it has so some of the less important details are ignored by the lower level consciousness. You don’t actively think about everything you experience every moment of the day.

When you aren’t aware of the thoughts running through your head, you lose some of the ability to think analytically, to be creative, and to solve problems.

How do you combat that? How do you access the information that your brain has determined you don’t need? By writing. When you are free writing, your brain is occupied with the act of writing. You are aware of the words spilling onto the paper in some type of flow. Actively writing prevents your brain from having the time to filter out what it deems is unnecessary information and allows you to explore possibilities. Often, we access some of that filtered information when we are writing, and it helps solve a difficult problem.

Writing and Happiness

The beneficial effects of emotional expression through writing about traumatic or stressful events have been widely reported (Smythe, 1998). When compared with individuals assigned to write about trivial topics, experimental participants who wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings showed a reduction in physician visits, improved immune function, increased antibody production and increases in their psychological well-being.

Writing and happiness are directly correlated. Much of the research has been on expressive writing and its relation to happiness. Expressive writing is writing down what you think and how you feel, and it has been linked to improved well-being, mood, and reduced stress levels.

Research done by Laura King shows people are happier and healthier when they are writing about achieving their goals and dreams.

Writing and Memory

How often do you attend a meeting, a webinar, or a lecture and not take notes? Most people take diligent notes because it helps you retain information, comprehend new ideas and be more productive. It is you telling your brain that it is important information so your brain will want to remember it.

When you take notes, your brain must work to digest and summarize what you are hearing as you write it in your own words, because you cannot possibly write down everything the instructor says. In doing this, you are promoting understanding and retention.

Taking notes involves deeper and more thorough processing of the information. The learning benefits of writing come from the brain’s ability to actively engage its neural pathways. The more you use the neural pathways in your brain the stronger they become. Use it or lose it isn’t just an old cliché, it’s a fact. If you don’t use it, you will lose it.

Interestingly, research shows professional writers use a different region of the brain than novice writers while writing, but both groups have significant improvement in their cognitive memory.

Writing encourages deeper thinking and research on topics that matter to you. It helps you tackle big ideas more effectively and has been shown to help people communicate highly complex ideas more clearly.

Write it Down

Whether you want to help yourself get over emotional turmoil, or just get clarity in your thinking, writing is the way to go.

Try it for a week. Keep a journal or write some creative fiction. See if at the end of that week you don’t have some great ideas and a clearer mind. Has anyone experienced the benefits of writing to their thinking?

References

• Boals, K. K. (2001). Expressive writing can increase working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology General.
• Ciotti, G. (2018, May). The Psychological Benefits of Writing. Retrieved from Help Scout: https://www.helpscout.com/blog/benefits-of-writing/
• King, L. (2001). The Health Benefits of Writing about Life Goals. Sage Journals. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167201277003