{"id":154681102,"date":"2025-01-14T08:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T08:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/writing-emotion\/"},"modified":"2025-01-14T08:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T08:02:09","slug":"writing-emotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/writing-emotion\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Emotion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first in a series on the cognitive benefits of writing <\/h2>
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The content below was originally paywalled.<\/p>

The \u2018most wonderful time of the year\u2019 has again passed, which is destabilizing regardless of whether you find the holidays something to be enjoyed or endured.<\/p>

For enjoyers, it is dispiriting to dismantle the tree and tuck away the tinsel for another twelvemonth. <\/p>

Endurers, meanwhile, may be struggling with exhaustion, overwhelm or isolation.<\/p>

Many of us fall between the camps and start the year with a gluey mix of happy and sad proofing in our gut.<\/p>

This January has been especially raw. Two months ago, floods killed hundreds of people and washed away whole villages within a few kilometers of my house. Now, some of my friends are enduring record cold snaps while others have been burned out by the LA fires. The world feels apocalyptic: literally, frighteningly. <\/p>

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It almost feels frivolous to be writing about writing. Would it be better to grab a shovel or chain myself to the gates of an oil refinery?<\/p>

Maybe. But there are others who can and will do that \u2014 and better than I. Writing is my forte, and per last week\u2019s newsletter,<\/a> I\u2019m increasingly convinced we accomplish the most by being who we are.<\/p>

Writing is not frivolous in the context of uncertainty and trauma: it is scientifically demonstrated to help and to heal. <\/p><\/div>

Therapeutic writing <\/h2>

One of the pioneers of writing as a therapeutic tool is Dr James Pennebaker. His research, over decades, has explore the interplay between emotion and language and \u2014 specifically \u2014 how writing helps people cope with difficulties. <\/p>

In a 1993 article, Pennebaker reported:<\/p>

Analyses of subjects’ writing about traumas indicate that those whose health improves most tend to use a higher proportion of negative emotion words than positive emotion words. Independent of verbal emotion expression, the increasing use of insight, causal, and associated cognitive words over several days of writing is linked to health improvement. That is, the construction of a coherent story together with the expression of negative emotions work together in therapeutic writing. (Pennebaker, 1993<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>

Note: using \u2018a higher proportion of negative emotion words\u2019 yielded greater benefits. In other words, the mania for \u2018positivity\u2019 is likely counter-productive to processing trauma. If you\u2019re digging through muck, acknowledge the muck. Its muckiness. That it stinks like hell and you\u2019d rather be anyplace else. <\/p>

The second point Pennebaker raises is the importance of \u2018a coherent story.\u2019 Multiple researchers and studies echo the finding that putting an experience into writing changes one\u2019s relationship to it. <\/p>

Peterkin and Prettyman (2009)<\/a> found: \u201cthe ability to construct well-organised and meaningful narratives is an important skill for successfully coping with life stressors and trauma, enabling individuals to create coherent stories from fractured memories and to facilitate cognitive processing of traumatic events.\u201d<\/p>

There are other demonstrably beneficial ways of coping with hard times, but writing has five distinctive qualities<\/p><\/div>

Accessible <\/h3>

Exercise is proven <\/a>to ameliorate trauma and support mental well-being, but not everyone has the physical capacity or a suitable environment. <\/p>

Talk therapy can be wonderfully helpful, but not everyone can find a good practitioner. <\/p>

Art, animals and pharmaceuticals are other popular therapeutic interventions, but again, not always in reach.<\/p>

Writing, though, well, pretty much anyone, anywhere, can write. Handwriting is great, but if there are physical limitations, a keyboard or smartphone works just as well. <\/p>

The ubiquity of phones means most of us have a writing device in our hand\/pocket most of the time, which means opening a notes app and writing is a legitimate, accessible alternative to doomscrolling.<\/p>

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Constructive <\/h3>

Writing through difficult experiences and emotions is constructive in two senses: first, it literally constructs a narrative about what happened. <\/p>

Part of what makes difficult experiences so difficult is that they are often unexpected: the car accident, the natural disaster, the unexpected illness. The shock is another layer of pain; insult added to injury.<\/p>

Writing is a chance to construct a narrative. Instead of this random explosion, the incident becomes part of a larger story. Context can be created. <\/p>

Second, writing is constructive in the sense of being useful. Pennebaker (2010)<\/a>, reporting on his early studies of university students found, \u201cexpressive writing could influence immune function, reduce a broad array of health complaints, improve students\u2019 adjustment to college, and even boost their grades.\u201d <\/p>

Tangible <\/h3>

Memories, ideas and emotions are butterflies; words are pins. <\/p>

When we write, we force our flittery nervous system to stop fluttering and turn the jitters into something tangible, immovable. <\/p>

In a subtle but meaningful way, writing lets us embody our inner life. Words on the page say: I am here<\/em>. <\/p>

Pinning emotions with words punctures them, tool.<\/p>

I love you <\/em>shrinks from an uncontainable sensation to eight small letters.<\/p>

So does I hate you<\/em> or I want to die<\/em> or I\u2019m so happy I could die. <\/em><\/p>

However outsized the emotion, writing brings it down to size and fixes it in space. Once the lines are on the page, we can literally step away. Or crumple the paper, or hit ‘delete\u2019. <\/p>

Suddenly, instead of having power over us, those flapping feelings are at our mercy. <\/p>

Inexpensive<\/h3>

This is, perhaps, a sub-category of \u2018accessible\u2019 but \u2014 given the crunchy, fickle global economic climate \u2014 seems worth highlighting.<\/p>

Writing is cheap. Like, free. <\/p>

Anyone who has a phone (at that\u2019s about 7bn of us, according to recent data<\/a>) has access to everything they need to write, at no additional cost. (Should they choose, they also have access to places that might publish their writing, communities of fellow writers, writing advice, etc.)<\/p>

Even hand writing is no great investment: despite increasing digitization most of us have old bills, printer paper or notebooks lying around. And you can still \u2018borrow\u2019 pens from banks and offices, or grab a packet of pencils at the grocery store. <\/p>

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Private <\/h3>