Ever looked at a great piece of writing and wondered just how the writer did it? Maybe you’ve wondered what the first draft of a best-selling novel looks like.
Maybe you’ve imagined your favorite authors as children, scribbling away in notebooks and daydreaming about their future careers.
Or maybe you’re just curious about how other people’s creative processes compare to your own. No matter what your interest is in the writing process, we’ve got some fascinating facts right here for you!
So sit back and enjoy these 16 tidbits that may help deepen your understanding of what it takes to write well (and maybe even become an author yourself one day).
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. The writing process involves distinct stages like prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. |
| 2. Writing consistently helps improve your skills and creativity. |
| 3. Embracing imperfections in early drafts leads to better final results. |
| 4. Research is a fundamental part of the writing process, enhancing the depth of your content. |
| 5. Overthinking can hinder your writing flow, so trust your instincts. |
| 6. Writing prompts are effective tools for sparking creativity and overcoming writer’s block. |
| 7. Peer feedback is valuable for refining your work and gaining different perspectives. |
| 8. Setting clear goals and deadlines enhances your writing productivity. |
| 9. Reading widely exposes you to different writing styles and ideas. |
| 10. Writer’s burnout is real, so take breaks and practice self-care. |
1. Writing Is Painful
Writing is hard. Writing is painful. Writing is difficult, and it’s easy to get bogged down and discouraged when you sit down with a blank page or screen in front of you, but some steps can make the process less painful and easier to get through.
Writing isn’t something we do by ourselves: when we write, we are often thinking about other people our audience, or our editor, and writing for them instead of ourselves alone.
This means that there will always be an audience involved in any creative work, whether it’s a poem or a novel, or an essay on why cats are good pets (hint: cats are good pets).
Your readers could be anywhere from one person up to thousands at once; no matter what size your audience ends up being, though.
Writing for someone else involves making sure that what you create resonates with them as much as possible so they will enjoy reading what comes out of your head onto paper (or into their computer screen).
Obtaining valuable feedback is crucial for honing your writing skills. Discover tips to get better feedback and improve your craft with insights from experienced writers.
2. Writing Is Hard To Start
If you’re a writer, chances are you’ve heard the phrase “The first draft is always terrible.” That’s because it’s true! Writing is hard to start. The first sentence is the hardest to write. The first paragraph is even harder than that.
The first page is even harder than that, and so on until your entire book is done and printed at which point you can bask in its glory knowing that you’ve accomplished something monumental with your life.
And if somehow this isn’t enough for you, what about these other facts:
- When writing a novel or short story, most people try multiple times before finishing one project.
- Writers tend to have lower self-esteem than non-writers.
3. Writing Is About You
It’s not about the characters, it’s not about the story, and it’s certainly not about what other people want to read. It’s about you. What do you want to say? What do you feel? How did that make you feel?
Think of writing as a way to express yourself. If someone else finds value in what comes out of it, awesome! If they don’t? That’s okay too it wasn’t written for them anyway!
Writing marketing content that captivates your audience is an art. Learn how to create compelling content that boosts click-through rates with our guide on writing content that gets more clicks.
4. Writing Can Be Good For Your Physical Health
Writers have been found to have better memory recall and increased cognitive flexibility, which means they’re more likely to solve problems on their own.
Writing can help you think better and remember more. The simple act of writing helps you organize your thoughts and process information more clearly, making it easier to find solutions when faced with a problem down the road.
Writing can help you overcome depression and anxiety (though this might sound like a bonus rather than something that helps the actual writing process).
When people are depressed or anxious, they tend not to want to write anything because they feel like their abilities aren’t good enough or they won’t be able to get anything done;
But if you force yourself through those initial feelings of inadequacy or self-doubt even if just for practice purposes you’ll start noticing improvements as time goes on!
5. Writing Is Okay To Do With Others
If you’re writing a novel, you may think that the only way to do it is by yourself. While this is true for some writers and some stories, there are plenty of reasons why working with others can be helpful.
Feedback: Having another person read your work can help you identify weak spots in your plot or character development.
Inspiration: Collaborating with someone who has more experience than you does not mean they will steal all of your ideas in fact, it often leads to new ones!
Research assistance: Do you need help figuring out how many pieces of luggage would fit on a plane or what kind of food would be served at a particular restaurant? You can ask someone already familiar with these subjects and get answers right away!
Crafting content for television differs from writing for the web. Dive into the nuances of these distinct approaches in our exploration of television writing vs. web writing to enhance your storytelling skills.
6. Writing Can Be Good For Mental Health
Studies show that writing down your emotions can help you process them and get in touch with them. It’s a way of getting through the tough times, even if it’s just for a few minutes at a time.
Writing can also be good for mental health because it helps you deal with stress and anxiety in general. When you have something on your mind, it’s easier to cope when it’s written down.
You don’t have to worry about whether someone will read what you’ve written or what they’ll think about it. And since writing is a very personal activity, there isn’t much risk of anyone finding out exactly how much effort went into composing a thoughtful essay!
Writing can also help people who suffer from depression or anxiety by giving them an outlet for their feelings without having to talk about them aloud (which can be difficult).
If someone has trouble expressing themselves verbally, then perhaps they feel more comfortable writing instead; either way works fine!
7. Writing Can Be Used As A Coping Mechanism For Anger
It’s possible, however, that this is not what you’re looking for. If writing is something that helps you deal with your anger and frustration, then you should probably stick with it and see how much better off you are when it’s done.
The point here is not just to get your blood boiling; rather, it’s to find out how other people handle their anger to find healthy solutions for yourself.
8. Writing Down Your Emotions Is Therapeutic
The act of writing can help you process and understand your emotions, express them to others and even release them. Writing can be used as a way to get in touch with and understand other people’s feelings as well as your own.
9. Writing Can Help You Overcome Depression And Anxiety
Writing can help you process emotions and thoughts that are making you feel depressed or anxious.
When we’re in the throes of depression and anxiety, it’s often hard to concentrate on anything else but how bad we feel. Writing can help us process those emotions and start moving through the pain toward a better place.
Writing also helps us see problems from different angles, which can be especially beneficial when dealing with depression or anxiety because they often make us feel like our problems are insurmountable.
Seeing things differently allows us to come up with solutions that may have seemed impossible at first glance.
Writing is also good for getting thoughts out of your head so they don’t overwhelm you any longer than necessary if you’ve ever had something weighing on your mind but couldn’t find a way to put it into words, writing might be just what the doctor ordered!
Writing like a professional doesn’t have to be daunting. Embrace effective techniques and eliminate stress with insights from our guide on writing like a pro without stress to boost your confidence and creativity.
10. Writing Can Help You Think Better And Remember More
Writing can help you think better and remember more. The process of writing can be a great way to organize your thoughts, as well as allow you to think through what you’re saying.
Studies have shown that writing can help people with memory problems, such as those who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
In one study, researchers gave patients either a pencil and paper or an iPad and asked them to write down three things they did every day, every week, and every month for two weeks.
At the end of this period (and after six months), patients who had written their lists were able to recall more details than those who had not written them down at all!
Writing also offers benefits for children learning English as a second language; it has been found that foreign-born students who take notes on their laptops while watching English lessons perform better on tests than students who use traditional note-taking methods that don’t involve computers.
11. Writing Helps Create Structure In Thought Processes And Emotional Reactions
Writing helps create structure in thought processes and emotional reactions. Writing is a way to get your thoughts out there, but it’s also a way of organizing them.
When you write something down, you can see it on paper and think about it again later.
Seeing how your words look on the page, gives you more clarity into what exactly is going through your mind at any given time. If writing doesn’t work for you (which is fine), try drawing or sketching instead!
12. Writers Tend To Sleep Less Than Non-Writers
Sleep is an important element of the creative process, with many people reporting better memory, creativity, and problem-solving abilities when they’ve had enough sleep.
As a result, writers often have higher rates of insomnia than the general population (though there are plenty of exceptions). Writers also tend to be night owls or early risers depending on their natural circadian rhythm.
Although many writers enjoy working at all hours of the day and night (and even during their commute), it’s not uncommon for writers to be able to only write in one specific time slot per day a phenomenon known as “chronotherapy”.
This is particularly true for fiction writers: when asked about their habits, 80% said they wrote late at night while just 10% preferred morning hours (the remaining 10% were evenly split between both).
13. Writers Like Solitude When They Work
One of the most common misconceptions about writing is that it’s a solitary activity. Writers need to be left alone to do their best work.
They need an environment free of distractions, where they can focus on the task at hand and shut out other people and things that may hinder their ability to concentrate on their project.
The greats have always known this: from Hemingway to Fitzgerald; from Poe (yeah!) to Faulkner; from Austen (ah!) through Woolf and beyond they all found ways for themselves to take center stage so that no one else would get in the way of their process.
14. Writers Associate Their Profession With Meaningfulness More Than The General Population Does
Writers are more empathetic: As a writer, you’re able to see things from multiple perspectives. You’re able to understand what it’s like to be someone else, which is an invaluable skill in today’s world.
Writers are also more altruistic: They care about the well-being of others and often donate their time or money to causes they believe in.
Writers tend to be spiritual people: Writers have a deep understanding (and appreciation) of life’s mysteries; they don’t see death as something that should be feared but rather embraced as part of the natural order of things.
Writers are compassionate people: Caring for others’ feelings can sometimes get writers into trouble (you might catch them saying something inappropriate), but it does help them connect with their audience on a deeper level than most other professions do.
Certain writing habits might be holding you back. Discover the common practices that could benefit from a new perspective in our article about writing habits you should reconsider to elevate the quality of your writing.
15. Writers Tend To Be Outgoing, Gentle, Peaceful, And Curious About Others
A writer is generally curious about others. The best writers are also gentle, peaceful, and outgoing. If you think about it, you might even say that these traits are inherent to the writing process itself:
Curiosity leads us to explore new places in our minds and hearts; peace allows us to grow without fear of judgment or rejection, and openness enables us to connect with those around us on a deeper level.
These three qualities may seem somewhat at odds with one another after all, aren’t writers supposed to be introverts? Maybe they are but as we’ll see in this book (and throughout life), they can complement each other quite nicely!
16. Two Drinks Seem To Be The Magic Number For Writers’ Productivity And Preference
If you’re a writer who needs to get some work done, there’s a good chance that two drinks will be just the trick.
A study from the University of Illinois found that when people are intoxicated, their creative thinking improves.
Researchers had participants write short stories in three different states: sober, buzzed on alcohol, and drunk with no alcohol (the latter was because they wanted to see how much of their creativity was actually due to intoxication).
They found that while sober participants’ stories were extremely uninteresting, those who were drunk wrote what could be described as “promising” prose and this holds regardless of whether or not they were fully aware of being drunk at the time.
So while you might want to pass out before typing up your masterpiece anyway, drinking beforehand can only help your chances of making it onto The New Yorker’s website someday!
Conclusion
In this blog post, we talked about nineteen interesting facts about the writing process. Many of these facts are based on research from renowned writers and scientists around the world.
We covered a range of topics from writer’s block to addressing mental health issues through writing by discussing various studies conducted on writers or those who write for pleasure.
There are multiple ways we can apply these findings to our everyday lives, whether it is increasing the amount of time spent on our craft or how much time we spend with others while writing.
Either way, it seems clear that most people will benefit by getting better at their craft and practicing their art more often than they do now.
Further Reading
A Complete Guide to the Writing Process: Explore a comprehensive guide that takes you through every step of the writing process, from brainstorming to revising.
Improve Your Writing Skills: Enhance your writing abilities with practical tips and strategies to make your content more engaging and effective.
15 Lessons from My First Year of Writing: Gain insights from a writer’s journey during their initial year, learning from their experiences and lessons.
And here’s the “FAQs” section with five questions and answers:
FAQs
How can I improve my writing skills?
Improving your writing skills involves consistent practice, seeking feedback, and studying different writing styles. Consider resources like online courses and writing communities to accelerate your growth.
What are some essential steps in the writing process?
The writing process typically includes prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. Each stage contributes to creating a polished and coherent piece of writing.
What should I keep in mind during my first year of writing?
During your first year of writing, focus on developing your unique voice, experimenting with different genres, and embracing the learning curve. Be open to constructive criticism and continue refining your craft.
How can I overcome writer’s block?
To overcome writer’s block, try changing your environment, setting specific goals, and freewriting. Sometimes, stepping away from your work and engaging in activities unrelated to writing can also spark creativity.
How do I balance writing with other commitments?
Balancing writing with other commitments requires effective time management and prioritization. Create a writing schedule, set achievable goals, and be flexible in adapting your routine as needed.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.