Writing letters, stories or poetry are widely unpractised skills with transformative potential writes Jason Osborne
Last week I wrote about chess as a fun and potentially endless way to while away lockdown during these dark and dreary days. For those that didn’t appeal to, there’s another activity to consider as a coping mechanism during these most trying of days: writing.
Most of the writing we engage in day to day is of a mundane or everyday sort: texts, emails, shopping lists, memos, notes and whatever else might be needed throughout the course of a standard day. While these kinds of writing are certainly functional, they’re not the sort of writing I’m suggesting you take up if you’re feeling the January blues.
Writing a letter to a friend, penning a story or musing over the structure of a poem all have the ability to take us away from this world and into another – a much needed escapism when life feels as heavy as it recently has. Before discussing some specifics surrounding each of these pursuits, it’s worth considering some of the benefits writing can confer upon those who practice it.
The benefits
The benefits of writing are many, and while it seems the studies concerning the effects of writing are fewer than the studies lauding the benefits of reading, there is still plenty to commend the habit. Not least among these is the fact that it is considered to be one of the most important innovations in the development of civilisations and societies throughout history. That alone ought to indicate its transformative power.
Connected to the development of civilisation is that one benefit of writing is the ability to concretise and work through abstract ideas that would otherwise be too difficult for us to grasp. In this age of information overload, and with relatively little way to work through the sheer quantities of information we’re exposed to on a daily basis, whether it be through social media or the incessant news cycle, writing can act as a real anchor in the midst of what seems like an increasingly complex reality.
This may be what compelled the advent of writing in the first place – an overload of information that couldn’t be handled without being set down. As civilisations developed, it’s believed that writing originated as a way to handle the increasing amounts of information they produced. This writing wouldn’t be in any way recognisable when set next to what we use today (look up cuneiform and hieroglyphs if you’re interested in seeing how it looked), but it was certainly a step along the road to the writing we use today.
Writing develops your capacity for complex thought as it involves attention, forethought, reflection and organisation which translate well into every other area of life. It doesn’t only help the logical and dispassionate side of you either; more research has been devoted to the emotional benefits of writing, with some therapists and psychologists advocating writing as a way to come to terms with what’s going on both around you and inside you.
A 2004 study researched writing’s ability to aid in the healing of old wounds, with the author concluding that it can help anyone. So whether the doom and gloom of the present times weigh heavily upon you, or a simple desire to explore some new inner territory besieges you, writing is a reasonable activity to take up.
While I’ve been referring to writing as some kind of monolith throughout the article, there are many different kinds that might take your fancy.
The lost art of letter writing
While I’m not saying no one writes letters anymore, the necessity of letter writing has undoubtedly been eclipsed by the advent of the internet. It’s a shame, because writing to another person affords a depth of expression that I’ve found is very hard to match in a message, email or phone call.
The ability to instantaneously communicate any sentiment we wish to whomever we wish means that, unless you’re an especially focused and thoughtful person, we don’t put too much attention into what we write anymore. Having sent a message, it can be followed up immediately with another, or amended if needs be. No such luxuries exist with letters; you better think before you set pen to paper.
Before we got engaged, my fiancée and I wrote letters to one another out of simple friendship, and I believe that the letters were an inextricable part of the development of our relationship. When each word is carefully considered and the most important sentiments are selected from a multitude of rivalling ideas, how can anything but a deepening of the relationship with the person you’re writing to result? The very process of sitting down for an hour or two to pen a letter implies and develops commitment to another – something sorely lacking in our hearts too often.
Escaping to another world
If letter writing isn’t to your liking, or if the affairs of this world are proving a little too much at the moment, why not create your own world? I remember an author saying that he simply writes the stories he’d like to read – surely we can all do that?
This far into lockdown, limited to our houses as we are, the time has never been better for formulating and setting down your own story. You may have exhausted your bookshelf at this stage, or you may have come to the conclusion that nothing you have left is of any interest to you at the moment. No matter; whether it’s historical fiction, fantasy, romance, a thriller or a science fiction story you’re after, you can take a stab at crafting your own.
As the aforementioned author said, the best way to set about writing a story is to write something you’d like to read – not something to get published. Words that are put on the page for the mere purpose of making money are always lacking the heart that gives any story worth reading its soul.
The art of story writing is too large to do any justice to here, but two books that might be recommended on the topic are Style: The Art of Writing Well by F.L. Lucas and How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. Lucas’ book deals excellently with the mechanics of writing itself, ranging from clarity and brevity, to humour and vitality in writing. Scott Card’s book, while limited in title to science fiction and fantasy, contains all of the rules necessary for constructing a realistic and believable setting for whatever story you decide to write.
Poetry
There is a rich connection between poetry and the spiritual life, and writing some of your own may feed your spiritual life while we’re deprived of the sacraments and social supports that we so need.
With so many concerns pressing down upon us, and with so few outlets, perhaps now is the time to pick up your pen and get writing”
In the foreword to his book on poetry The Ode Less Travelled, Stephen Fry confessed to the “dark and dreadful secret” that he writes poetry, yet he goes on to describe it as “songwriting, confessional, diary-keeping, speculation, problem-solving, storytelling, therapy, anger management craftsmanship, relaxation, concentration and spiritual adventure” – a potent mixture for renewal. Another extensive topic, I would recommend Mr Fry’s book for fuller treatment of the ancient art-form.
For an insight into the spiritually transformative potential of poetry, Gerard Manley Hopkins and St John of the Cross ought to be examined. Ireland has deep roots in this field, with the revolutionary Joseph Plunkett writing his own mystical poetry too, most famously his poem I See His Blood Upon The Rose.
With so many concerns pressing down upon us, and with so few outlets, perhaps now is the time to pick up your pen and get writing.