Pillar · 12 of 12
Write
Yes / no, once a day
Note: Each of these pillars is personal, one of the things that make you you, so I'd recommend changing their contents. I'll keep what I write about the pillars short.
"The Write pillar"
Of all my exercises, this was the one I left myself the shortest note on, and it said: "Your life's purpose. Just thought I'd remind you." I feel happy when I read a book at length, taking my time; yes, that one is among my 4 Pillar exercises too, after all. Do you know what happens when I do the same for writing? When I put my head on the pillow, I'm at peace; I fall asleep feeling that I've done the thing I came into this life to do. My biggest dream is to see myself holding my own book, my novel, in my hands; to do this professionally. Because in the end, even though I've earned money from dozens of different jobs other than writing, I can say "I am a writer." with a clear conscience. Isn't that the whole logic of the "4 Pillars" anyway? To be able to point at each one and say "This is me."
Research
Research: Write
Expressive writing is one of the better-replicated findings in this field. Purpose is another matter.
These notes are a starting point for the author's own reading; nothing here is medical advice.
Expressive writing is one of the better-replicated findings in this area. In the original experiment, students who wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings for four days visited the health centre less in the following months than students who wrote about trivial topics (Pennebaker and Beall 1986); later work summarised the effect and its limits (Pennebaker 1997; Baikie and Wilhelm 2005). That research is about writing for yourself, not about writing a novel; the author's reason for this pillar is purpose, and the absorption he describes is Csikszentmihalyi's flow again (1990).
References
- Pennebaker, J. W., and Beall, S. K. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
- Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychological Science.
- Baikie, K. A., and Wilhelm, K. (2005). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment.
- Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper & Row.
Notes last touched October 16, 2026