The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing for Others

It was years before I shared my writing with anyone. In fact, in middle school, when I tried to publish a poem in the school’s newspaper, teachers told me it was “too dark” and I was so embarrassed, I almost stopped writing entirely.

When we have the environment to share our words freely with others, however, this can be a way of sharing who we are and who we are becoming with the people in our lives.

Connection & Communication:

Sharing our writing, though often scary, can foster a sense of connection to community outside of our own experiences. Giving others the opportunity to hear our words creates the opportunity for others to feel a sense of resonance with our words, our experiences, and our perspectives. This can help us to feel validated, while also allowing others to feel validated by us.

Many people feel isolated in their experiences of the world, but when we share our reflections on those experiences, we often find that we are not alone at all in what we’ve seen or felt.

This, in and of itself, is healing.

Purpose & Motivation:

It is not a far leap, in my opinion, to go from writing for ourselves to writing for an audience. The difference, perhaps, is writing with a clear purpose or goal in mind.

The external motivation can drive us to refine our ideas and improve our writing skills; that is, if we want to.

The awareness that our writing can impact or inspire others can also provide a sense of fulfillment, achievement, and purpose. Considering other’s needs and interests, our audience’s interests, can further enhance our understanding of others, paving the path to building empathy.

This activity can also help us to better articulate our ideas. I’ve found this particularly helpful for clients who feel a disconnect between the words they speak and the thoughts they’re trying to convey.

I will sometimes encourage clients to write to a particular reader — their mother, a former partner, an employer, an old friend, a personified emotion. For novelists, we are constantly considering what our readership is interested in, though every writer will tell you that they write what it is they want to read.

Feedback & Growth:

Thinking publicly about our writing opens the door to feedback, which can be invaluable for those of us who fear ridicule, judgement, or criticism. It is important, in this regard, that co-leaders of groups such as myself create an environment where we can have constructive criticism and praise; where we work to build trust with one another and a sense of investment in each other’s words.

Engaging with an audience can further provide encouragement and creativity, contributing to our overall confidence and development, not only as writers, but as people in the world.

Conclusion:

As a leader and co-leader, I’ve worked with clients to reignite their passion for writing, both in the context of social therapeutic groups, as well as writing workshops and seminars.

Whether we’re working on developing the craft of writing or we’re working to give ourselves the freedom to express ourselves unabashedly, writing is a powerful tool of growth and transformation.

Of course, in my opinion, even when we’re writing for ourselves, we’re shifting how we are with others and how we engage with the world. Words belong to everyone, after all.

So whether sharing your words with others or not, simply the act of writing — I believe — transforms our lives, the lives your life touches, and the world at large.

Steven T. Licardi

Read part 1 "Writing for Ourselves vs Writing for Others"