Writer’s High – Are You Missing Out?
A guest post by Vin Miller
Most people regard writing as nothing more than a tool for communication. In fact, many of us hold an unpleasant opinion of writing based on the many hours spent doing it for school or work. However, most of this writing was probably about boring topics that made it easy to overlook the therapeutic and inspirational effects of putting your thoughts into words.
Writing Can Inspire Happiness
Happiness is something that everyone wants, but unfortunately, many find it to be elusive. Because of this, most people are willing to invest a lot of money and effort into achieving it. From this perspective, it might seem ridiculous for something as simple and commonplace as writing to be a powerful source of satisfaction and fulfillment, but it really can be!
The unfortunate reputation that writing often bears as being boring and laborious is likely a result of people writing about uninteresting topics and doing so only out of necessity. Granted, not everyone is destined to enjoy writing just as some people don’t enjoy playing sports, but you’ll never know what you might be missing out on unless you give it a fair chance. The key is to write about subjects that are related to your passions and values which means that you need to have some self awareness to fully enjoy the benefits.
My Uplifting Experience with Writing
Despite having done well on school writing assignments and having received numerous complements on my writing from coworkers, I considered it to be nothing more than a communication tool and never really gave it much thought. This changed dramatically after I started my blog.
Surprisingly, writing was one of the reasons why I didn’t want to start a blog. This was primarily because of how much work it can be, but I wanted to become more involved with the internet and thought it was worth a try. I’ve been writing about healthy and inspired living, which is one of my deepest passions, for almost a year now and am still amazed by the effects that it has on my mood and perspective.
As most bloggers know, it’s not a pleasant feeling when you’re running out of time to write the next post, are having trouble finding a topic to write about, are busy with other things, and simply don’t want to write. At times like this, writing can seem like a real drag, and on many occasions I’ve had to force myself to sit down and get to work. However, it never takes long before I’m absorbed in my thoughts, completely engaged, and oblivious to my surroundings. Hours pass as if they were minutes.
My most notable experiences with this have come when I was tired or in a bad mood. Writing is usually the last thing I want to do in such cases, but once I get started, it almost always makes me feel energized, invigorated, and pleasantly fulfilled. The effect has been so dramatic that if I hadn’t experienced it many times for myself, I wouldn’t believe it.
Extending the Natural High
I consider the uplifting and energizing feeling that I get from writing to be somewhat like a natural high and similar to the endorphin rush that many people seek through exercise. Depending on what you choose to do with your writing, there are several ways that you can leverage your work to maximize this effect.
If you’re passionate enough about something to sit down and write about it, there’s a good chance that you’ll also enjoy conversing about it. Once your thoughts are organized and formalized into a document, you can post your work to a blog, an article directory, or simply share it with friends. With minimal effort, you can inspire new and interesting conversation for days, weeks, and even years. People will be reading your material while you’re sleeping, eating, and tending to other aspects of your life. You never know when someone will show their appreciation for your wisdom or offer additional insight that you hadn’t considered, and when they do, you’ll likely find it to be rewarding.
Another great benefit of writing is that it forces you to process and organize your thoughts. This often leaves you with unanswered questions and new ideas, both of which can be very exciting to pursue. Not only does this keep you engaged, but it also helps to expand your knowledge.
Give it a Try!
If you’re not already an experienced writer, one of the easiest and most meaningful ways to embrace writing is to keep a journal. Doing so is therapeutic in the sense that it allows you to process your emotions, and in some cases, may even inspire a revelation or a solution to a problem. You can also write about procedures, stories, concepts, or ideas that you’d like to share or document for future use.
If you find writing to be a rewarding experience, you should consider starting a blog even if you have little interest in becoming a serious blogger. It’s an easy way to organize and share your writing and you never know where it may lead. You can even be up and running in just a few minutes at one of the free blogging sites such as WordPress.com or Blogger.com. What are you waiting for?
Vin Miller is the author and owner of NaturalBias.com which is a blog about maximizing your life through natural health, practical fitness, and a positive perspective.
16 Responses to “Writer’s High – Are You Missing Out?”
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There really is a high attached to writing, especially in finishing. One of the best things about blogging is the post button. Before I started this, everything I worked on was a work in progress, was still undergoing tweaking. With a blog though, I finish, wrap up my thoughts, go through an edit and then share it with the world. That finishing is addictive and so satisfying.
Thank you for this post.
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I’ve found that writing frees your mind and takes you to that special place where no one or nothing else matters except meeting that person that we really need to sit down and have a talk with: you.
Excellent post Vin.
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Escapism is the primary reason why I started a blog. Majority of my posts are almost always news or links from other sites and only consists of my reactions or thoughts about the topic or article. Just like what you said, blogging for me is a way to organize my thoughts. Its just a personal blog and only a few of my friends know it, but I find writing fun even if its just a short paragraph.
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Hi Vin, great article. I totally get where you are coming from with this article, I always get a high when I have completely finished the article and then there’s the anticiapation of how it’s going to be received.
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Fantastic article. Your article has helped inspire me to restart my personal blog. I have never been a “writer”, but have enjoyed writing about stuff that interests me.
I feel the same way about writing in school. I did not like writing, or reading for that matter, because I felt it was forced. Writing and reading about things that did not interest me was boring. I find that in my adult life I like to read when I can and have written articles.
I have lots of thoughts, but will take your advice about keeping a journal. That may help in my writing process. I would like to experience that high someday.
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Hah! I’m not even a native English speaker, but I spotted this error, ironically on a phrase you talk about how well you write:
“Despite having done well on school writing assignments and having received numerous complements on my writing from coworkers”
the word is compliment, not complement :-).
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Hi Vin,
I couldn’t agree with you more.
If you find something or a combination of things you are really passionate about you’ll gonna love writing and learn a great deal out of it.
Klaus Tol
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Thank you all for your comments!
Jonathan – It’s interesting that you mention this. I just read a book called StrengthsFinder which helps people assess their strengths. One of mine is being an “Achiever”, and the satisfaction of pressing the publish button definitely ties into this. It’s part of the reason why I find blogging to be rewarding and why I’d much rather write a number of articles than one large piece.
Paul – I completely agree and think what you described is something that we could all use a little more of!
Bryan – That’s great! As your experience clearly demonstrates, blogging certainly doesn’t have to be about traffic and popularity to be rewarding, and it doesn’t have to involve long posts either.
Steven – Thanks! I enjoy that anticipation as well!
Steve – I felt forced as well and think that’s a great way to explain it. I think many kids finish school with this mentality and it’s unfortunate because reading is such a great way to enrich your life. It took me a number of years after college to get into reading on my own and now I absolutely love it.
Chris – Ha, good catch! I suppose I deserve that. :) An easy mistake to make and a difficult one to catch. Unfortunately, I do it all the time with there and their even though I’m well aware of the difference between the two.
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can you tell me where i can get tips and trick or technical to writing about tutorial about programing, because i have blog’s http://ajax-tutorial.net and i difficult to writing about tutorial format.
thank’s for you article
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I’m not an expert writer but when I finish an article which I find excellent, I feel a sense of fulfillment. Reading the article you made plus knowing that some people also appreciate it is truly rewarding. The feeling can even urge you to create new articles as it allows the juice to flow continuously. I incessantly seek for that feeling as the feeling itself is a motivation to make brilliant pieces waiting to be read.
I guess that feeling of euphoria should always be taken advantage of. It’s a perfect mind state to write without any resistance.
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Great post Vin!
I agree that there is something satisfying about pushing the publish button and I try not to be too much of a perfectionist about it.
I find that my writing flows best when I let go of trying to produce the perfect blog post. When I write purely from my heart,. I write really quickly and effortlessly and those are the posts that seem to be the most popular.
The blog posts that take the longest are the ones where my ego gets in the way. When I try too hard to produce something that my readers want to read, that’s when it feels difficult, clunky, takes a long time.
Switching to pen and paper is also a good way of allowing the writing to flow because the movement of your arm enables you to switch off your brain and write from the heart.
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Klaus – I completely agree. What’s great is that you really only need one thing that you’re passionate about to truly enjoy writing.
Zmoerf – Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any such resources and haven’t written many formal tutorials myself. My suggestion would be to not over think it and be natural. As long as you break up the process that you’re teaching into small, logical, and easy to understand steps, I think it should be fine. You can also have someone who is not knowledgeable about the topic to read your tutorial to see if they find it understandable and useful.
Alex – I agree and have also experienced the effect of a popular article giving me more inspiration to write more. It’s a great feeling!
Jude – Thank you! I’m a perfectionist and am unfortunately very familiar with what you described. For my first draft, I just freely write what comes to mind without worrying about the wording so that I’m less likely to lose my train of thought. However, when I start proofreading, it’s a much different story.
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Hi Vin, great to meet you. I enjoyed this. A while ago, I saved my sanity by taking the difficult step of reminding myself that blogging and writing are not the same thing. Writing is just one part of blogging and it has to be cherished and nurtured. I never write if I’m not enjoying it. I can’t see the point. Luckily, I love writing so much, that rarely happens.
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Great post! I particularly agree with the journalling idea. I’m a writer by profession, most of which I do on the computer. But part of my routine is a daily writing practice in a journal. Using a pen and paper is very therapeutic and allows me to slow down and explore my thoughts. Forming the letters/words is also a creative act, which helps put me in the right frame of mind for the rest of the day.
Now, I wish I could experience the same high from running – it has eluded me for years!
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Hi
My favorite – well, where I get my biggest “high” is with poetry. That comes from deep within and get out before all of the “screening” and “judging”.
For me though I get my pleasure from bringing others benefit, inspiration or knowledge through my writing.
Juliet
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Klaus – I completely agree. What’s great is that you really only need one thing that you’re passionate about to truly enjoy writing.
Zmoerf – Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any such resources and haven’t written many formal tutorials myself. My suggestion would be to not over think it and be natural. As long as you break up the process that you’re teaching into small, logical, and easy to understand steps, I think it should be fine. You can also have someone who is not knowledgeable about the topic to read your tutorial to see if they find it understandable and useful.
Alex – I agree and have also experienced the effect of a popular article giving me more inspiration to write more. It’s a great feeling!
Jude – Thank you! I’m a perfectionist and am unfortunately very familiar with what you described. For my first draft, I just freely write what comes to mind without worrying about the wording so that I’m less likely to lose my train of thought. However, when I start proofreading, it’s a much different
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