Psychological Benefits of Creative Writing

In an age of digitisation and technology, creative writing has emerged as the next hot topic. From bloggers to marketers, it has become an enjoyable career for many. Creative writing is on its way to becoming one of the highest-paying occupations, with an annual growth rate of 16%. Today, experts have demonstrated that what we consider as the highest-paying industry serves as a therapeutic aid for most individuals. It offers far more psychological benefits than anyone could have envisioned. Creative writing is said to be helpful in decision-making and stress relieving, improving mental health.   

In summary, creative writing can help with the following psychological factors: 

- Gaining mental clarity 
- Increasing self-esteem 
- Improving attention span 
- Expressing feelings 
- Enhancing and boosting creativity 
- Strengthening memory 
- Fulfilling your career ambitions 

Cognitive advantages of creative writing are numerous. Writing is an art that encourages you to engage your brain in a unique - yet familiar - way; looking at things from a fresh perspective and choosing your words carefully.  

Interested in pursuing a career in creative writing? Keep reading to delve deeper into some more psychological benefits of such an enticing career path. Find out how BA (Hons) Creative Writing at the University of Bolton can help you fulfil your career ambitions.  

1. CREATIVE WRITING HELPS YOU TO GAIN MENTAL CLARITY:

Creative writing forces you to arrange your ideas and put them into words. This can assist you in putting things into perspective and making better judgments. Writing also assists you in becoming more conscious of your own ideas and emotions. When we write down our ideas, we push ourselves to organise them in a logical manner. This can be beneficial for persons who suffer from mental health disorders such as anxiety or ADHD since it allows them to focus on one job at a time.   

Writing may also be used for self-care, offering an outlet for feelings that would otherwise pile up inside. You may work through unpleasant feelings and gain greater knowledge about yourself by presenting yourself via writing. Writing can significantly boost mental clarity, based on a study released in the "Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition." The study discovered that when individuals penned for 20 minutes about their opinions and emotions on a certain topic, they exhibited superior mental clarity compared to those who did not write. This was notably true for people who had lower levels of mental clarity to start with.  

2. CREATIVE WRITING HELPS TO INCREASE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM:

Another advantage of studying creative writing for mental health is that it boosts self-esteem. It can make you feel better about yourself as it allows people to see what's going on within your thoughts. You may even earn praise from friends and family after sharing anything you've produced with them. If you don't share your writing, then writing about yourself and the events in your life provides an artistic outlet to express your thoughts without fear of criticism from others. Writing about yourself allows you to ponder on who you are as a person and how much importance each human being has.  

3. CREATIVE WRITING HELPS TO IMPROVE YOUR ATTENTION SPAN:  

According to prominent research, individuals currently have attention spans of about 8 seconds. This indicates that you should have stopped reading this post by now; many individuals nowadays have shorter attention spans than they had in the past.  

So, how may creative writing assist with this? When you write, you force your brain to focus on a single activity. However, you are not doing simply one thing. Many individuals are unaware that writing necessitates multitasking. You must compose, think, and read simultaneously. This focuses your attention. When one phrase is finished, another comes to mind and wants to be penned. Ultimately, the more you write, the more focused you will become.  

4. CREATIVE WRITING HELPS YOU TO EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS:  

Creative writing can also assist us in expressing our emotions; allowing us to deal with tough situations in a healthy manner. Writing can be a self-care method for many; helping to unwind and de-stress. Some may also use creative writing as a way of connecting with others. Sharing tales and perspectives while also learning from, and supporting one another.  

Writing about difficult situations can help us release our feelings in a healthy way. In a study conducted by psychologist James Pennebaker, researchers encouraged individuals to write about their darkest emotions and thoughts regarding a terrible incident. The findings revealed that individuals who wrote about their encounters had considerably fewer physical problems, such as migraines and gastrointestinal issues than those who did not write at all.

  

5. CREATIVE WRITING CAN ENHANCE AND BOOST CREATIVITY:  

Writing can aid the development of creativity; when you write, you are essentially generating new thoughts and recording them. This might be useful for people who wish to become more artistic or who are looking for ideas for their next endeavour.  

An American study discovered that free writing promotes creativity. According to research published in the "Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition," people who participate in free writing are more capable of coming up with innovative ideas than those who don't.  

Participants were given a series of challenges that needed them to come up with innovative solutions to perform the study. For instance, they were challenged to come up with as many different applications for a stone as they could or to build a new toy. It was revealed that individuals who had practiced free writing before taking the exam had more innovative ideas compared to those who had not. 

6. CREATIVE WRITING STRENGTHENS OUR MEMORY: 

Memory loss is something that is vastly feared by older adults. Improved memory is one of the psychological benefits of creative writing. It can help contextualise ideas and make them more manageable in our brains. The written word can be more trustworthy than our own thinking. Even a small note on a piece of paper might spark our recollection of an unfinished task. When we compose a story, we are creating a mental series of events that are linked together.  

There is proof that handwriting, in special, can build unique brain connections. The thickness of the paper, the heaviness of the pen, and even the scent of the ink may all help us remember things better. This is because sensory input plays a significant part in memory formation. 
 
CREATIVE WRITING CAN BE A FULFILLING CAREER; NOT JUST A HOBBY   

A creative writing career can be both personally and professionally rewarding. On a personal level, it can provide an outlet for your creativity and allow you to express yourself in a unique way. On a professional level, a career in creative writing can be both challenging and rewarding. You'll have the opportunity to use your talents to create content that will engage and entertain readers. You'll also gain valuable experience that will help you progress in your career.  

Here are a few of the career paths you can pursue with a creative writing degree: 

- Blogger: A blogger does not just need a camera and a great day out. Your creative writing classes can act as a catalyst for your blog post. With this, you can better communicate your thoughts and ideas to your audience, and they will resonate with you.  
- Content Writer: The content writing industry has taken the world by storm, especially after the pandemic. In this digital world, the demand for people with excellent writing skills is increasing daily.  
- Magazine Contributor: If you have grown up reading content from the authors in your favourite publication, here is your chance to become one of their members. With creative writing skills in your pocket, you can easily give your input to these magazines.   
 
Studying creative writing at the University of Bolton 

As a Bolton University student on a creative writing degree, you can learn to express your creativity through all aspects of creative writing; poetry and fiction, stories and narrative, drama, and short-form media. By studying in our supportive learning environment as a valued member of the Bolton School of the Arts, we aim to nurture you in exploring the rich, expressive potential of the English language, as well as your development of the crafts of creative writing. Our students gain the opportunity to refine and develop their skills at every stage of the writing process; from the initial concept, through planning, background research and first drafts, to editing, re-writing and self-critique. It’s this constant support our students receive while studying in our multi-million-pound invested facilities that is why our creative writing degree has been voted first in the UK for Student Experience*. 

If the prospect of a career spent informing, exciting, and inspiring others through your creative writing sparks your interest then there’s no better place to get started than a creative writing degree at the University of Bolton. Taught by a dedicated team of professional writers, we’ll help you to develop your creative writing abilities in a friendly, inclusive environment where our student’s needs come first.  

Want to see what #UniAsItShouldBe is about with your own eyes? Book one of our upcoming Open Days! Speak to our creative and passionate lecturer team who are proud to help our students achieve their goals, and find out what our students love most about life at Bolton. 

Need more information? Email us at enquiries@bolton.ac.uk or call us on 01204 903807 to find out! 

*The Times and Sunday Times – 2022 - UK