10 Reasons to Start Writing (Now): Why Everyone Should Take Up Writing

In my last post, I talked about the reality of being a writer. The challenges writers face, the truth about successful writers and what it takes to turn writing into a career. Since it was a piece talking about the tough, unpleasant side of writing, I want to now discuss the benefits.

These are the 10 reasons why everyone should take up writing!​

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1. Writing is a Creative Outlet

Having a creative outlet is important for any imaginative type.

Some people make furniture, some paint and some write. Writing is one of those outlets where the imagination is tested. Not only does it provide an opportunity for someone to create an interesting story, but also to create entire worlds filled with possibility.

It’s an outlet that can be made more interesting by the method one uses. Some writers like to dictate their story, recording their thoughts to transcribe later or by using speech-to-text services. Others like to take a chance and use dice to dictate what happens in the story. One can even write a story with the help of one or more friends, making the story a collaborative effort.

Or you can write a story by sitting at a computer and letting your creative instincts do the work. Writing is a great way to turn your ideas into something tangible, something you can be proud of.
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2. Writing is a Constructive Hobby

For the more practical-minded, it’s all about making good use of one’s time.

Those that get anxious doing nothing might enjoy the hobby as it can lead to creating a product. Whether you want to kill time in a waiting room or simply have nothing planned for the weekend, writing a story is a great way to get something done in those quiet moments.

If you want to be so productive, writing can even eat into the activities that make you feel lethargic, such as watching TV or playing video games. An enthusiastic writer will keep their senses sharp in order to get more writing done, as long as they take frequent breaks and drink plenty of water.

If you ever wanted a project that you could work on in your spare time, writing a novel is a great project to start!
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3. Writing Improves Your Memory

Studies have found that writing improves your memory.

When a writer constructs a world, they are taking into account details that can simply slip the minds of many picturing the idea. The writer has to take a mental image and turn it into words, which means breaking down exactly what they see in order to convey the same emotional response through words.

By forcing the mind to process this information in a more detailed way, it trains the mind to better store that information as well.

Of course, it goes a step further when the writer is constructing a complex story and world, where there is an abundance of information to work with. It might be a longer writing process, but the benefits make for a nice bonus.
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4. Writing Improves Communication and Storytelling

What better way to train your communication skills than approaching hypothetical situations?

When a writer constructs a dialogue, or simply tells their story through narration, they learn how to properly establish flow and logic. A story that is all jumbled up is difficult to follow, and when a writer tries to tell a friend, it is difficult to communicate. This is why learning these lessons through writing can help you order your thoughts and communicate them with others.

Of course, writing has smaller benefits that aid communication as well. Through writing dialogue a writer will learn the emotional cues in conversation and their vocabulary will improve as well, which helps avoid those moments where one falters as they lack the word to continue the conversation eloquently.
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5. Writing is a Great Mental Exercise

We all enjoy simple activities that don’t require too much thinking. It’s easy, it’s enjoyable and depending on how stressed one feels, even necessary.

Of course, when we aren’t so stressed most of us still enjoy these activities for longer than we really should. It’s for this reason so many pursue activities that target a specific part of our brain to keep it active, to exercise that function.

Some people do puzzles to challenge their problem solving, some read to challenge their imagination, and others make learning a part of their hobby and study various subjects they are interested in. All great examples of mental exercise and here’s another; writing.

We have talked about writing being an outlet for our creativity, but it also challenges our minds in several ways. It challenges us to learn new things so we can accurately present something or argue a topic in our story. It challenges us to solve problems whenever we encounter dead ends. It challenges just by constructing a logical story, one with a defined path from beginning to end.

For those that think this is too much or too little of a challenge, in the next point, I tell you…
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6. Writing Can Be as Challenging as You Want it to Be

Challenges can present themselves in many ways, but mainly it comes down to what you are most knowledgeable about and what you connect with the most.

Some writers enjoy writing fiction surrounding a subject they are passionate about and knowledgeable about. For example, a marine biologist, or just someone who likes to study marine biology in their spare time, can easily construct a story with marine biology at its core. It’s something they are proficient in, so it doesn’t provide them with much of a challenge.

However, if writers wanted to challenge their knowledge, their story would involve complex forms of the subject they are skilled in, or simply include something they know very little about. It forces them to learn.

As for that connection with the type of fiction, some writers enjoy working on stories for young adults rather than adults, as it provides them with more freedom from more serious and realistic subjects. However, some writers struggle to write for young adults as they simply don’t connect with the age group of that form of writing.

You can decide how challenging your writing experience will be by simply taking your knowledge and preferred story genre and demographic into account.
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7. Writing Can Be Made into a Career

The subject of the last post was the difficulties of writing, about the trials one will face when turning writing into a career.

It doesn’t change the fact that it can be made in a career. Many writers have done so and I’m not talking about the writers who got lucky when the stars aligned. With hard work and persistence, you edge out your competition and turn your passion into something that provides.

If you’re even a little lucky, it provides well.
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8. Writing Can Help You Feel Good

I am talking about this benefit not because those who are passionate about writing enjoy writing, I am talking about it because those who are simply writing to tell a story can still feel good about what they are doing.

There are many ways a person can feel gratification. It can be from creating a finished product which can be sold on the market. It can be about feeling good when a scene turns out well. It can be from the pride of doing something extra on a tough day. These are some of the more fundamental reasons why a person can feel good while writing.

These are the reasons I can understand, but there is more to it than that.

In this article, it says that research supports the theory that writing improves mood, and well-being and reduces stress. It’s a great summarised article, with links to several studies included. If you’re interested, be sure to check it out!
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9. Writing Can Help Clear Your Head

A lot of writers use writing to help manage their thoughts and emotions.

It’s often recommended for those with scattered thoughts to put them on paper, read through them and make sense of situations. Whether your mind is a chaotic mess that needs organising, or you are simply flustered by a stressful event, writing out what happened can help you clear your head.

Writers even clear their thoughts by writing stories. It’s a process with a lot of thinking, thinking about one's own life and the lives of the characters. Situations play out in the writer's head, possible resolutions are constructed. Even those with manageable thoughts can enjoy this benefit!
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10. Writing Improves Critical Thinking

Finally, writing improves critical thinking.

As I said earlier, writing is a great mental exercise. One of the best things it trains is critical thinking. A writer needs to understand the scenes they create and logically continue the story with the character's personalities in mind and the logic of the story. That means a writer can’t push ahead without critical thinking and this is something they need to do all the time.

From the actions of the characters to the dialogue to the writer’s narration, many factors need to be considered. Even writing style plays an important role when presenting a scene, especially when an invested writer considers the connotations of certain words as well as the pacing of that scene.

As writing develops a writer’s critical thinking skills, they can better present their ideas and argue their points in real life, should they talk or argue about something they are knowledgeable on.
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Conclusion

In my experience, writing has made me a better speaker and a little bit more reserved about certain subjects. I understand conversations with people a lot better, the emotional cues.

Of course, I still make plenty of mistakes and that’s going to always happen no matter the improvements writing makes to these skills.

Still, the benefits are there and more experienced writers can certainly attest to them. I am curious whether you noticed one or more of these benefits that came from writing. Are there any benefits not listed here that you have enjoyed? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading and as always,

Good day, goodnight and happy writing!
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