7 reasons why writing is great for your health

We are writers and many of us become grumpy if we go too long without writing. It is an intrinsic part of our lives. Some of us write for a living and all of us write for the love of it. So, it's important to say at the outset that writing is fantastic for your health. Here are some of the reasons why.

(1) Writing is therapy

I've written journals since I was an angst-ridden 15-year-old, desperate to figure out boys and God and school work. Pretty much in that order!

When I got divorced at 28, I worked out my rage and hurt on the page, writing reams of self-destructive words that slowly healed the pain inside. When I read those journals now, I don't even recognize myself, because I left that life behind as I wrote it out of my heart.

Writing can help you process grief or abuse, anger and pain. It can take the parts of your life that you need to deal with and become a counselor without you ever having to speak a word to another person. It can be your hidden therapist, and those words never need to be shared, or published, unless you want to turn them into a memoir at some point. Writing can heal you and help others if you share your journey.

"Writing can be cathartic and allows the writer to focus on something positive. It can almost be considered to be a mechanism for de-stressing and works well with mindfulness techniques."

AJ, The Healthy Writer survey

(2) Writing helps you process situations and learn about yourself

I write to figure out what I think about the world. In fact, I don't usually know what I think until I write about it, as the page gives me space to consider all the angles. I've written in my journals about whether I should move countries, about whether I should leave my job, and the doubts and fears that inevitably slam into life over the years. I've shared excerpts from my journals in this book and also in The Successful Author Mindset, where I bare my soul about the psychological reality of the writer's journey.

In my fiction, I write to delve deep into darker themes. My novel, Desecration, is a murder-mystery but also weaves in my thoughts on the meaning of the physical body, both in life and after death. In Delirium, I consider suicide and the spectrum of mental health we all move up and down in our lives. These are deep issues that can affect us all, and only through writing can I deal with them in a healthy way.

My friend and creative mentor, Orna Ross, teaches F-R-E-E writing: Fast, Raw, Exact and Easy. Write by hand as fast as you can without self-censoring. Lose control and don't think. Just write. It's incredible what comes out when you write like this and in the mess, there will be gold.

(3) Your writing can help other people, and that helps you

Writing is magic – or telepathy. It's two brains connecting over time and space, a way to reach another mind through the shapes of letters on a page. If you write about your own pain, you can help heal someone else's. You can change their mind, perhaps even change the course of their life.

All of us have books that changed our lives. In turn, your words can help other people, and it is (mostly) human nature to want to help others, so it will intrinsically reward you too.

(4) Writing can make you more optimistic

People who are more grateful have a positive, optimistic approach to life. They appreciate what they have, in terms of possessions and also, importantly, their social relationships. How do you become more grateful? Writing has an answer and the results are based in solid neuropsychological evidence.

University of California psychologists Emmon and McCullough ran an experiment in 2003. Participants wrote down five things for which they were grateful: the kindness of a friend, a beautiful view or just a sunset. They only had to write a sentence and they only had to do it once a week. The results were startling with clear improvements in well-being even for people with serious medical problems.

Using a gratitude journal can reduce your anxiety. It can help you move away from negative thoughts, especially when we live in a time of constant media negativity. There is an important connection between your thoughts and your emotions. Writing can make you more optimistic, and people who are more optimistic are happier.

(5) Writing can boost your physical health

The benefits of writing go beyond just improving your mood and making you more optimistic.

Emmon and McCullough also found that people who completed the gratitude tasks slept better. Losing sleep raises your blood pressure and makes you more susceptible to infections. Psychologists in Manchester in the UK have gone on to confirm that people who were more grateful slept longer and had better quality sleep. As psychologist Emmon put it: "if you want to sleep then count your blessings and not sheep."

There are other small studies that have suggested that expressive writing can have direct effects on physical health. This includes one study that suggested improved wound healing in people who were writing regularly. This could all be linked back to the positive effect of sleep, but there may be other factors at play. There are plausible bio-mechanisms for this, as long-term stress is known to trigger the release of hormones like cortisol. Having too many of those sloshing around will have effects that include damaging your body’s ability to fight off infection.

(6) Writing helps you connect with others and build a community

Back in 2006, when I started writing seriously for publication, I didn't know any writers. I had no creative friends and I felt isolated and alone.

I started blogging in 2008 and by putting my words out into the world, I started to meet other writers. I went along to blogging meet-ups and connected with other writers on Twitter and then in real life. My writing was the catalyst that led me into an international community of creatives, and many of my best friends now are people I met online because of my blog. It continues to help others, but it also helps me connect.

(7) Writing helps you achieve your goals

I've always been a chronic goal-setter, and so I've always written down my goals in journals. I wrote an affirmation back in 2006, "I am creative, I am an author." This was before I'd even written or published anything. I couldn't even say it out loud. I kept it on a card in my wallet, whispering it in my mind while I walked to the train, commuting to the dreaded cubicle farm every day. After a few months, I began to say it out loud, then wrote it into my journal every night, while I took action in the daytime, writing what became my first book, Career Change.

That affirmation became reality a few years later, and I started my website, The Creative Penn, in December 2008. My next written goals were around income from the new business and then around leaving my day job, which I did in September 2011.

I continue to write down my goals every year, some I share on my blog and others I keep private in my journals. But I write them all down, because I know the process works, embedding the future reality in my mind as I take action toward it.

While looking for a journal entry about headaches, I happened upon some ten year goals I had written in 2007: "In January 2017, I will be a full-time writer making a six-figure income."

The Joanna Penn who wrote that was still trapped in the day job. She had not even considered writing a novel. She had no website, no blog, no social media, no email list, no audience, not even one book out in the world. That was the year when the Kindle and the iPhone were launched, so the technology that powers much of my business now didn't even exist.

"By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands — your own."

Mark Victor Hansen