<h3>Writing therapy</h3>

<p>There is quite a lot of research on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_therapy">writing therapy</a> and expressive writing more generally. As you note, much of this research relates to writing about negative emotional experiences. There is some support for the positive mental health benefits in writing about traumatic events (e.g., see the meta-analysis by Smyth, 1998).
While the interventions are focused on writing about negative events, the intervention</p>

<h3>Positive psychology and writing</h3>

<p>I have read about a few specific positive psychology writing interventions, such as those <a href="http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/docs/positivepsychology.pdf">mentioned here</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ul>
  <li><strong>Keep a gratitude diary</strong>: Take the time each day to write down three things that went  well and why. This causes psychological well-being
  levels to increase in a lasting way.</li>
  <li><strong>Thank a mentor</strong>: Write a letter of thanks to someone to whom you owe a debt of  gratitude such as a teacher or grandparent. Then visit the
  person and read the letter to  them. People who do this are measurably
  happier for more than a month.</li>
  <li><strong>Learn to forgive</strong>: Let go of anger and resentment by writing a letter of forgiveness to a person who has wronged you. Inability to forgive is associated with persistent rumination.</li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p>Toepfer and Walker (2009) discuss writing letters of gratitude. They cite several studies showing positive effect, stating that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Expressive writing studies are plentiful and the once anemic domain of
  letter writing as  a vehicle for improving health has seen a recent
  surge of interest (King, 2001; Sheldon &amp;  Lyubomirsky, 2006a; Seligman
  et al., 2005; Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, &amp; Sheldon,  2009). For
  example, VandeCreek, Janus, Pennebaker and Binau (2002) asked
  participants to  pray and write letters to God and found that both
  prayer and the letters increased insight  and positive emotion, more
  so than simple written descriptions, where a single letter to God  had
  the most impact. The authors explained that the act of praying or
  explaining to another  (in this case in a letter to God) was more
  conducive to personal insight and greater positive  emotional
  formulations about life events. In other words, writing a letter to
  God was found  to improve participant’s positive feelings about life
  events.  </p>
  
  <p>Watkins, Woodward, Stone and Kolts (2003) conducted a study
  that examined mood  changes as the result of various gratitude
  inductions, one of which was a letter writing  condition. Their
  findings revealed that writing a gratitude based letter produced a
  positive  affect increase compared to the other gratitude inductions
  (Watkins et al., 2003).</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Burton and King found positive effects from getting participants to write about positive experiences. They also summarise some of the literature noting that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>research has begun to explore a variety of writing topics that
  might be associated with health beneﬁts that do not focus exclusively
  on negative experience. King and Miner (2000) found that writing only
  about the positive aspects of a traumatic experience was associated
  with the same health beneﬁts as writing about trauma. King (2001)
  found that individuals who wrote about their best possible future
  selves showed physical health beneﬁts as well as enhanced
  psychological well-being after writing.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Burton and King's instructions were:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Think of the most wonderful experience or experiences in your life,
  happiest moments, ecstatic moments, moments of rapture, perhaps from
  being in love, or from listening to music, or suddenly ‘‘being hit’’
  by a book or painting or from some great creative moment. Choose one
  such experience or moment. Try to imagine yourself at that moment,
  including all the feelings and emotions associated with the
  experience. Now write about the experience in as much detail as
  possible trying to include the feelings, thoughts, and emotions that
  were present at the time. Please try your best to re-experience the
  emotions involved.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As for a mechanism of operation, Wing et al present the following ideas:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Writing about nontraumatic events likely shares some effects with
  writing about traumatic events. Writing about any meaningful aspect of
  life may promote cognitive processing, encouraging the examination,
  understanding, and assimilation of emotions that might otherwise be
  left unscrutinized (Pennebaker, 2002; Pennebaker, Mayne, &amp; Francis,
  1997; Pennebaker &amp; Seagal, 1999). Writing about a meaningful topic may
  result in enhanced emotional regulation, related to perceptions of
  self-efficacy and control over emotional experiences (Greenberg,
  Wortman &amp; Stone, 1996; King, 2001, 2002; Lepore et al., 2002). Writing
  may afford the writer the opportunity to gain a sense of mastery over
  his or her emotions and to clearly identify priorities, preferred
  outcomes, and goals (King, 2001).</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>References</h3>

<ul>
<li>Burton, C. M., &amp; King, L. A. (2004). The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences. Journal of research in personality, 38(2), 150-163. <a href="http://positiveemotions.gr/library_files/B/Burton_King_Health_2004.pdf">PDF</a></li>
<li>King, L. A. (2001). The health beneﬁts of writing about life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(7), 798–807.</li>
<li>King, L. A., &amp; Miner, K. N. (2000). Writing about the perceived beneﬁts of traumatic events: Implications
for physical health. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(2), 220–230.</li>
<li>Wright, J. (2002). Online counselling: Learning from writing therapy. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 30(3), 285-298. <a href="http://in3.uoc.edu/opencms_in3/export/sites/in3/webs/grups_de_recerca/psinet/_resources/documents/Wright.pdf">PDF</a></li>
<li>SMYTH, J.M.(1998).Written emotional expression: effect size, outcome types, and moderating variables.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(1), 174±184. <a href="http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/peterson/selfauthoring/Narrative%20and%20Goal%20Setting/Trauma%20Disclosure/Smyth%20JM%20Written%20emotional%20expression%20effect%20sizes%20JCCP%201998.pdf">PDF</a></li>
<li>Toepfer, S., &amp; Walker, K. (2009). Letters of gratitude: Improving well-being through expressive writing. Journal of Writing Research, 1(3), 181-198. <a href="http://www.jowr.org/articles/vol1_3/JoWR_2009_vol1_nr3_Toepfer_Walker.pdf">PDF</a></li>
<li>Wing, J. F., Schutte, N. S., &amp; Byrne, B. (2006). The effect of positive writing on emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Journal of clinical psychology, 62(10), 1291-1302.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-12T10:32:01.747Z
You seem to have an unfinished sentence hanging there: _"While the interventions are focused on writing about negative events, the intervention"_ ... :) Great answer otherwise.
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-13T06:19:16.800Z
2013-02-13T06:49:19.940Z
2013-02-13T06:49:19.940Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>Writing seems like a perfect medium for expressing ones problems but can it also be used to improve happiness somehow? Maybe through some sort of creative writing exercises that focus on positive thinking?</p>

<p>Are there any positive writing exercise that can improve happiness, if even temporarily?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-21T03:01:57.523Z
Related: [Why does journaling seem to reduce stress?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/26760/7001)
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-12-30T15:32:52.840Z
you can create events where you imagine,
fantasy events like i did created while emailing
a imaginated sequence of "private time" in an theoretical scenario with my girlfriend at that time, which made us both happy in that instance.
thegrunt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-02T00:25:34.973Z
If you could be a little clearer about what you mean by "improve happiness" and give this context, you could also try asking this question on the [Writers](http://writers.stackexchange.com) site. (I add the qualifiers because the audience on Writers won't be able to give you an answer from a point of view of cognitive science, but they may be able to identify exercises that will help you.)
Goodbye Stack Exchange
<cognitive-psychology><positive-psychology><positive-thinking>
What positive writing exercises improve happiness?
Ein Doofus
# What positive writing exercises improve happiness?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-12-30)

Writing seems like a perfect medium for expressing ones problems but can it also be used to improve happiness somehow? Maybe through some sort of creative writing exercises that focus on positive thinking?

Are there any positive writing exercise that can improve happiness, if even temporarily?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, positive-psychology, positive-thinking

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: you can create events where you imagine, fantasy events like i did created while emailing a imaginated sequence of "private time" in an theoretical scenario with my girlfriend at that time, which made us both happy in that instance.  
> **username_3**: If you could be a little clearer about what you mean by "improve happiness" and give this context, you could also try asking this question on the [Writers](http://writers.stackexchange.com) site. (I add the qualifiers because the audience on Writers won't be able to give you an answer from a point of view of cognitive science, but they may be able to identify exercises that will help you.)  
> **username_1**: Related: [Why does journaling seem to reduce stress?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/26760/7001)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-02-13. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

### Writing therapy

There is quite a lot of research on [writing therapy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_therapy) and expressive writing more generally. As you note, much of this research relates to writing about negative emotional experiences. There is some support for the positive mental health benefits in writing about traumatic events (e.g., see the meta-analysis by Smyth, 1998).
While the interventions are focused on writing about negative events, the intervention

### Positive psychology and writing

I have read about a few specific positive psychology writing interventions, such as those [mentioned here](http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/docs/positivepsychology.pdf):

> * **Keep a gratitude diary**: Take the time each day to write down three things that went well and why. This causes psychological well-being
>   levels to increase in a lasting way.
> * **Thank a mentor**: Write a letter of thanks to someone to whom you owe a debt of gratitude such as a teacher or grandparent. Then visit the
>   person and read the letter to them. People who do this are measurably
>   happier for more than a month.
> * **Learn to forgive**: Let go of anger and resentment by writing a letter of forgiveness to a person who has wronged you. Inability to forgive is associated with persistent rumination.

Toepfer and Walker (2009) discuss writing letters of gratitude. They cite several studies showing positive effect, stating that

> Expressive writing studies are plentiful and the once anemic domain of
> letter writing as a vehicle for improving health has seen a recent
> surge of interest (King, 2001; Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006a; Seligman
> et al., 2005; Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon, 2009). For
> example, VandeCreek, Janus, Pennebaker and Binau (2002) asked
> participants to pray and write letters to God and found that both
> prayer and the letters increased insight and positive emotion, more
> so than simple written descriptions, where a single letter to God had
> the most impact. The authors explained that the act of praying or
> explaining to another (in this case in a letter to God) was more
> conducive to personal insight and greater positive emotional
> formulations about life events. In other words, writing a letter to
> God was found to improve participant’s positive feelings about life
> events.
>
> Watkins, Woodward, Stone and Kolts (2003) conducted a study
> that examined mood changes as the result of various gratitude
> inductions, one of which was a letter writing condition. Their
> findings revealed that writing a gratitude based letter produced a
> positive affect increase compared to the other gratitude inductions
> (Watkins et al., 2003).

Burton and King found positive effects from getting participants to write about positive experiences. They also summarise some of the literature noting that

> research has begun to explore a variety of writing topics that
> might be associated with health beneﬁts that do not focus exclusively
> on negative experience. King and Miner (2000) found that writing only
> about the positive aspects of a traumatic experience was associated
> with the same health beneﬁts as writing about trauma. King (2001)
> found that individuals who wrote about their best possible future
> selves showed physical health beneﬁts as well as enhanced
> psychological well-being after writing.

Burton and King's instructions were:

> Think of the most wonderful experience or experiences in your life,
> happiest moments, ecstatic moments, moments of rapture, perhaps from
> being in love, or from listening to music, or suddenly ‘‘being hit’’
> by a book or painting or from some great creative moment. Choose one
> such experience or moment. Try to imagine yourself at that moment,
> including all the feelings and emotions associated with the
> experience. Now write about the experience in as much detail as
> possible trying to include the feelings, thoughts, and emotions that
> were present at the time. Please try your best to re-experience the
> emotions involved.

As for a mechanism of operation, Wing et al present the following ideas:

> Writing about nontraumatic events likely shares some effects with
> writing about traumatic events. Writing about any meaningful aspect of
> life may promote cognitive processing, encouraging the examination,
> understanding, and assimilation of emotions that might otherwise be
> left unscrutinized (Pennebaker, 2002; Pennebaker, Mayne, & Francis,
> 1997; Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999). Writing about a meaningful topic may
> result in enhanced emotional regulation, related to perceptions of
> self-efficacy and control over emotional experiences (Greenberg,
> Wortman & Stone, 1996; King, 2001, 2002; Lepore et al., 2002). Writing
> may afford the writer the opportunity to gain a sense of mastery over
> his or her emotions and to clearly identify priorities, preferred
> outcomes, and goals (King, 2001).

### References

* Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2004). The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences. Journal of research in personality, 38(2), 150-163. [PDF](http://positiveemotions.gr/library_files/B/Burton_King_Health_2004.pdf)
* King, L. A. (2001). The health beneﬁts of writing about life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(7), 798–807.
* King, L. A., & Miner, K. N. (2000). Writing about the perceived beneﬁts of traumatic events: Implications
  for physical health. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(2), 220–230.
* Wright, J. (2002). Online counselling: Learning from writing therapy. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 30(3), 285-298. [PDF](http://in3.uoc.edu/opencms_in3/export/sites/in3/webs/grups_de_recerca/psinet/_resources/documents/Wright.pdf)
* SMYTH, J.M.(1998).Written emotional expression: effect size, outcome types, and moderating variables.
  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(1), 174±184. [PDF](http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/peterson/selfauthoring/Narrative%20and%20Goal%20Setting/Trauma%20Disclosure/Smyth%20JM%20Written%20emotional%20expression%20effect%20sizes%20JCCP%201998.pdf)
* Toepfer, S., & Walker, K. (2009). Letters of gratitude: Improving well-being through expressive writing. Journal of Writing Research, 1(3), 181-198. [PDF](http://www.jowr.org/articles/vol1_3/JoWR_2009_vol1_nr3_Toepfer_Walker.pdf)
* Wing, J. F., Schutte, N. S., & Byrne, B. (2006). The effect of positive writing on emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Journal of clinical psychology, 62(10), 1291-1302.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: You seem to have an unfinished sentence hanging there: _"While the interventions are focused on writing about negative events, the intervention"_ ... :) Great answer otherwise.  

---

