Does writing make you happy?

I think asking if writing makes me happy is that same thing as aking if reading makes me happy. It is all about semantics. I enjoy reading , although sometimes I read things that make me sad, and i love to write even though sometimes I feel frustrated with my writing. Writing is cathartic for me, so sometimes I don't want to be happy when I write. Sometimes Iwant to be at the keyboard bawling my eyes out. If I've had a day where someone makes me mad, i fume at the computer and stomp off to my blog.

Does writing help me be emotionally healthy? I think so. Do I love writing, would I be worse off if I couldn't write? Yeah. But do I always finish my writing with a smile on my face, no - not always.

I don't know if happy is the right word for the feeling I have. It's more a mix of the whole list Cyia posted. I think of happiness as an uncomplicated emotion, and what I feel while writing is not uncomplicated. Reading (not my own work) makes me happy.

Yes! I certainly wouldn't spend so much time on it if it didn't.

Writing doesn't make me happy.

Having written something I like makes me ecstatic.

kuwisdelu said:

Writing doesn't make me happy.

Having written something I like makes me ecstatic.

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Is that truly distinguishable? How can you write something without then having written it?

CaroGirl said:

Is that truly distinguishable? How can you write something without then having written it?

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The act of writing something doesn't make me happy.

When I've written it and it's there and I can say "I wrote that" — that feeling makes me happy.

If it doesn't make me happy, then it's not worth doing. I write the stories I love, if other people love them too that's a lovely bonus.

Okay, this is a bit of a religious angle but...God is the creator and we're made in His image. Therefore it seems like we're only fulfilling our calling when we're doing something creative.

The above observation should be tempered by the fact I've just eaten loads of sweets so as well as my precription beta-blockers, I'm also on a sugar high.

So you should probably ignore me altogether.

cwfgal said:

Seriously? Or is this intended to be tongue-in-cheek?

Beth

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It's both, really. Tongue in cheek because I am happy when writing, but it is not writing that makes me happy, and thank God for it. If I never wrote another word, I'd still be a very, very happy man. If I never wrote word one, I'd still be a very, very happy man.

I'm happy because I have a wife I love, and have for thirty years. I'm happy because I have great kids, and wonderful grandkids. I'm happy because of friends who are always there.

Spending a rainy afternoon drinking coffee and talking to a friend I haven't seen in a long while makes me happy.

Writing is simply something I enjoy doing, just like I enjoy playing football, or rock climbing, or spelunking. It just pays better.

seun said:

So, does writing make you happy or is that not important to you? Is it just a business, a way of getting paid?

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Writing is just a process where I'm too busy to have any emotion other than concentration.

But it certainly isn't a business since I haven't been paid yet, Now THAT would make me happy.

It makes me tremendously happy, even the snaggy draggy parts of it, which is fortunate given that I hope to keep at it forever.

Writing is a job for me, and I love it. That's why I chose it as my job.
But, no, writing doesn't make me happy. I believe happiness is a choice. Nothing and no one has the power to make me either happy or unhappy.

As I often put it, I am a writer the way other people are drinkers and smokers. It is a compulsive habit that I indulge in to ease the pains of day-to-day living.

*.'-..riting iz gud drug..-*

Yep it does - in an obsessive compulsive way. I can't stop writing no matter what.

I love the characters and world much like I enjoy characters and worlds in other people's novels.

I love the creative process.

I get frustrated when I can't seem to get a section of the story right. There are highs and lows.

Very rarely would I call it happy. It's the feeling I get when solving something, which I really love But I think it's hard, so it doesn't really feel happy.

It feels challenging, and I always love that, even as I'm cussing and scaring the dogs

Writing makes me happy but at the same time it sometimes can make me want to bang my head against my desk

And since banging my head against my desk isn't good, I swear. Unfortunately, I swear so much when I get frustrated with writing sometimes I could probably make a sailor blush or I look around and get surprised that even came out of my mouth

I haven't considered this question in a while. Before writing was my living I used to think about it a lot. Back then I was writing fiction and I enjoyed the hell out of it. It was extremely satisfying to know when I was on to a good story. I think what made me happy about that process was creating a story. Writing just happened to be the best medium.

Now that I've fallen backwards into this non-fiction career, I hardly even think about whether or not I am enjoying myself. It's a job. I am probably happier for having finished a project than in the writing involved; writing just happens to be the way that I do it. However, I am more content in this job than any that I've had in the past and - and this is just now occurring to me - I've been doing this for longer than I worked for any previous employer back when I was punching the clock.

Yes, yes, yes, it makes me happy. Writing gets me through dark times (hence the "making my own sunshine"). I love everything about it, even when it drives me crazy.

Yup. Without a doubt. Even just writing in my head and playing with my characters does.

Heehee that's the best part

When I'm writing, I'm focused...I worry at my work like a dog with a bone, and am usually not even aware when people speak to me.

If things start to get too bogged down, I shut my computer and walk away in defeat, feeling like I've lost a battle, even though I'm determined to win the war. I have to go and re-strategize, which sometimes takes hours, sometimes weeks. During that time, I'm not happy, per se, but I'm pleasantly and intensely occupied, mentally--if there's not something real-world demanding my attention at that very moment, I'm focused on my novel. I'll be doing the dishes, my mouth working as I imagine what one character will be saying to another.

On the other hand, if the writing is flowing and coming out great, I get almost giddy. Sometimes, I get too much of a rush and I just can't stand it--I'm so happy and proud of what I've written (it just MIGHT be GOOD ENOUGH!) that I have to ask my husband (an English teacher) for the roughest, toughest, most mean-spirited critique he can give, just to bring me down-to-Earth enough to see my work as it is, and to keep me diligent.

As you can probably tell, I'm extremely emotional. And I need to write, because without some sort of creative outlet, I feel pent-up and restless, no matter how happy my life would otherwise be. Everything can be going great, but if I'm not writing, there's something missing...so, yes, at times writing makes me happy, but in general it's one of the many ingredients that keep me happy.

Oh, and I have ponies. Fine little Caspians (which are technically horses, but at about 10 hands--that's forty inches--at the shoulder). So if anyone needs to borrow...