As writing teachers, we spend much of our time honing students’ cognitive skills. We see writing as a deeply intellectual act, a direct reflection of a student’s thoughts. However, a study by Brand & Powell¹, urges us to expand our view beyond pure cognition and consider the profound and often overlooked role of emotion in writing. After all, writing is about thinking and feeling.
For too long, research into writing has either sidestepped emotions or focused solely on their disruptive potential (like writer’s block or anxiety). This study, however, investigated the full spectrum of emotions – positive and negative – experienced by novice adult writers during the writing process. The findings offer vital insights that can reshape how we understand and support our students.
The study at a glance
- Who: The study involved 87 novice writers, primarily undergraduate English and psychology students.
- What: Researchers used the Brand Emotions Scale For Writers² to measure students’ emotional states. Emotions were categorised into three clusters:
- Positive = adventurous, happy, inspired, satisfied, relieved
- Negative passive = ashamed, bored, confused, depressed, shy
- Negative active = afraid, angry, anxious, frustrated
- How: Students completed the scale immediately before and after a required writing assignment (class essays) and some self-sponsored writing (initiated on their own).
- Goal: To describe changes in emotions during writing and identify factors influencing students’ emotional intensity and change, such as writing skill and whether the writing was required or self-initiated.
Key findings and what they might mean for the writing classroom
The study revealed several crucial points about how emotions shift and interact with the writing process:
⬆️😃 Writing generally improves positive emotions: A significant finding was that positive emotions increased notably during writing sessions. Specifically, feelings like inspiration, satisfaction, and relief showed the most significant increases. Concurrently, negative passive feelings (like boredom and confusion) significantly decreased during writing.
This suggests that the act of writing can be an emotionally rewarding experience, leading to feelings of personal accomplishment. We can lean into this, highlighting the sense of satisfaction students can feel upon the completion of a class writing project.
😀😠 Skill and self-perception play distinct roles: Students deemed ‘unskilled’ by their teachers initially felt much less positive before writing than their skilled counterparts. However, after writing, their positive feelings intensified to match the level of skilled writers, resulting in a greater overall positive emotional change for the unskilled group. Writers who perceived themselves as less skilled consistently reported significantly higher negative passive emotions (e.g., more boredom and confusion) than those who rated themselves as skilled.
The fact that less skilled writers experience a greater increase in positive emotions during writing is powerful. This offers an opportunity to acknowledge their effort and growth, reinforcing that the process of making writing can be emotionally beneficial and rewarding.
Therefore, a focus on self-efficacy, or students’ belief in their own ability, is crucial. If a student thinks they were simply born a ‘bad writer’ and that there is nothing they can do, they are more likely to suffer emotionally. However, strategies that build confidence and address students’ self-perception can directly improve their emotional experience and engagement³.
😡😰❤️ The nuance of negative active emotions: The study found that ‘negative active emotions’ (such as anger, anxiety, and frustration) tended to stay relatively constant or only decreased slightly during writing. These emotions resisted change, regardless of writing skill or whether the writing was self-initiated or required.
Perhaps surprisingly, students reported higher negative active emotions when engaged in self-sponsored writing compared to required school writing. This means anxiety isn’t always about incompetence. We shouldn’t automatically equate anxiety or frustration with a lack of skill. Skilled writers might experience these emotions due to having high expectations for themselves.
The finding that self-selected topics can lead to more anger, anxiety, or frustration feels counter-intuitive but is important. It might indicate that students feel more freedom to express strong emotions when writing for themselves, or that the responsibility of undertaking their own writing (that they personally value) creates a different kind of pressure – because they care more about it! They are passionate about doing well. This means offering choice isn’t a magic bullet for emotional ease but it does shift the emotional landscape. It means students might care more about their writing doing well.
Implications for teaching
This research highlights that emotions are not merely peripheral to writing; they are central to the experience and often to the writing product itself.
Acknowledge the emotional journey. Talk to students about how they feel when they write. You should also talk about how you feel when you write⁴. Help them recognise that shifts in emotions are a normal part of the process – the satisfaction in finishing, the thrill of a new idea, the frustration of a writer’s block.
Understanding the rich tapestry of emotions involved in writing moves us beyond a purely cognitive model and allows for a more holistic approach to teaching writing. By supporting not just the minds, but also the hearts of our young writers, we can help them navigate the complex, challenging, and ultimately pleasurable journey of putting thoughts and feelings onto paper.