This is Your Brain On Writing
So many of us struggle with finding the time to write. When we survey writers in our community, finding the time to practice their craft is a number one barrier. Getting your butt in the chair is one of the hardest parts of this game.
If writing is such a struggle, why then do so many writers fight for time in their busy lives to get to the page?
Finding the time to write brings a return on investment far greater than just words on the page. Writing impacts your health, your wellbeing, and your overall outlook on life. It’s not just a vitamin supplement that you pop in the morning, it is a concrete practice that leads you to a better life.
In my previous blog, Keeping Your Writing Momentum After 30 Days of Writing, I wrote that keeping up my regular writing practice after my initial 30 day commitment made my life better overall. Writing makes my life better. I want to feel better. I want to do better. I want to be better. Therefore, I write.
It turns out I’m not the only one that feels this way when I write. That “writer’s high” is actually a real thing backed by science. Who would have thunk?!?
In their recent book, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, Susan Magasamen and Ivy Ross researched how our brains and bodies transform when we participate in the arts. Their research on creative play and its effect on our overall health echoed everything I feel in the fiber of my being when I make it to the page. So what are the three ways science says writing can improve our health?
1 - Creative Play Increases Happiness!
“The way the brain acts during creative activities is similar to the experience during meditation, mindfulness, and yoga exercises. These activities are designed to help you find peace, calm, and happiness by blocking out external stimuli. Like these exercises, creativity can produce a natural “high” or feeling of joy and contentment.” - Dr. Brad Brenner
According to Aristotle, the purpose of human life is to achieve happiness, which would mean, that a person who is successful at being human is, by definition, happy. Right. All we need to do then is define what it means to be human, no big deal.
Reframing Aristotle's argument we can understand highest good is happiness. Understanding is one thing, but getting there is a whole other. How do you get from the understanding to the happiness? Well…
Writing creates and fosters the positive feelings that come with setting goals, reaching them, and keeping promises to ourselves. For me, my creative writing practice helps me feel like a successful member of the human race and literally makes me happier. Don’t take my word for it. Science backs me up!
According to a case study in their book, Magasamen and Ross found that,
“...rhythmic, repetitive movements with the hands have been shown to release serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin in the brain, making her feel a little bit better.”
Oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin are often referred to as our “happy hormones.” These can be boosted with simple life changes to things like diet, exercise, meditation, and, now we know, participation in the arts and creative play! Who doesn’t want, need, and love that?!?
What do our "happy hormones" do exactly?
Serotonin influences learning, memory, and happiness.
Dopamine is tied to the brain’s reward system associated with pleasurable sensations and learning.
Oxytocin relates to our psychological stability associated with relaxation and trust.
The trifecta of these hormones released = well, happiness.
If “rhythmic and repetitive movements with the hands” are releasing these “happy hormones,” I don’t think it is a stretch to say that writing is a way to reach a state of happiness. There’s not much that comes closer to rhythmic and repetitive movements with the hands than good old pen-to-paper writing. Heck, even the striking of the keys can become rhythmic and repetitive movement–ok maybe not for work emails or filling in spreadsheets.
Writing as an Elixir to Induce Euphoria, is scientifically and medically proven.
2 - Creative Play Reduces Anxiety!
“Anxiety disorders can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships.” - National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
NIMH studies have found that over 30% of adults experience anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Of that 30%, more than half of those adults experience serious to moderate impairment. That is one in three people! If you are sitting between two other folks on the train, then the chances are good that if it is not either of them dealing with some sort of anxiety disorder, then it is you!
NIMH also points to higher levels of anxiety symptoms as predictors for lower levels of happiness. As stated above, if Aristotle’s argument for the highest good being happiness then there is a strong chance that anxiety may present a stumbling block between you and your highest good. Who wants that? Lucky for you, writing may hold the key!
“When you tap into the arts to foster a meditative state, the places in your brain responsible for judgment and personal criticism are quieted in your prefrontal cortex, and you can assess a more generous, perspective-taking point of view.” - Susan Magasamen
The research makes sense, but the top takeaway in my own life isn’t the statistics. It is how creative writing quiets my mind and makes me feel. If I can pull myself to the chair and manage to put my pen to the paper then something happens.
Shocker, it’s not just me! You can do it too! That “meditative state” that Magasamen and Ross point to where there is no more room for criticism, negativity, or shame. Yeah, I don’t hold a patent on that.
When you turn your inner thoughts and turmoil onto the page, the anxious feelings are replaced by both the everything and nothing of writing.
You don’t need a set direction or a focused topic.
You don’t need any specific outcome or hope of ever making it to a publisher.
Just the act of getting words on the page makes you feel better.
3 - Creative Play Keeps You Healthy!
“...emotional writing can influence frequency of physician visits, immune function, stress hormones, blood pressure, and a number of social, academic, and cognitive variables. These effects have been shown to hold across cultures, age groups, and diverse samples.” - JW Pennebaker
The leading researcher on the power of writing and journaling, JW Pennebaker, has found that expressive writing can improve control over pain, depressed mood, and pain severity. She has found through multiple replicated studies that writing isn’t just a level-up for your mental health. It can positively impact your actual physical health.
And this is not just Pennebaker. Numerous researchers have used creative writing therapy along with journaling, expressive writing, and emotional writing to investigate the link between creativity, writing, and health.
This research has resulted in studies detailing lower viral counts in HIV patients after writing therapy. It has allowed victims of trauma to find a “safe space” in their writing and promote healing. Studies on writing and health have also shown significant improvements in the wellbeing of cancer patients finding that these types of creative therapies were a strong predictor of long-term adjustment to chronic illness.
What does all of this educated and eloquent science mean to you, the “every man/woman” who is struggling to get to the page? It means your fight to find the time to write and the “writer’s high” induced by those happiness hormones, is WELL worth the effort needed to make regular practice a priority on your to-do list.
In a world where wellness is a multi-trillion dollar global business, you can take a chance at great self-improvement and dare I say, the highest good, for nothing more than the cost of a pencil. Sounds revolutionary to me!
Writing is a literal prescription for better mental and emotional health. Writing can help you feel happier. Writing can help you to feel less anxious. Writing can positively impact your overall mental and physical health.
I challenge you to think about it the next time you make the time for your personal writing practice. How do you feel when you come away from the page?
Need help getting to the page?
The IWN Creative Writing Workshop puts writing on your calendar so you can build the muscles of getting into the writing flow state faster. We’ve helped hundreds of writers find their wellbeing through creative writing, now it’s your turn.
Check out details for our next creative writing workshop here. Will we see you at our table?
Written By: Stephanie Shepperd
A consummate raconteur, Stephanie works to translate the engaging stories she tells into living words on a page. She is a professional educator, published author, and enthusiastic editor. Stephanie prefers to write first-person essays on what she knows from her life, relationships, and travel. She just might make you laugh while you stop and question yourself and the world around you. Based in DaNang, Vietnam she can be found spending sunny days scooting around to secret beaches on her Vespa with a hammock in the seat.