I’m sure many people wished you “Happy New Year.” But what does it mean when it comes to writing? In other words, what can you do to feel happier in your writing practice? To address this question, it’s essential to first define what happiness means.

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness, happiness is to be happy in and with our lives, meaning that you (a) experience more positive emotions than negative ones, (b) feel that your life is good and meaningful, and (c) are satisfied with the progress you are making toward your life goals.

In this article, I outline specific actions you can take to cultivate a greater sense of happiness as a writer, based on these three aspects of happiness.

Manage negative emotions

Being happy doesn’t mean that you only feel positive emotions. Negative emotions are also part of life, and, therefore, they are inevitable. However, it’s important to know how to manage these feelings. In his book Chatter, Ethan Kross offers tools to help people cope with negative emotions such as disappointment, frustration, and rejections—unpleasant feelings that writers often face during their projects. One effective tool he recommends is journaling about your thoughts and feelings regarding your negative experiences. Kross (2021) explains, “Focusing on your experience from the perspective of a narrator provides you with distance from the experience, which helps you make sense of what you felt in ways that improve how you feel over time (The Tools section, para. 12).”

Write with purpose

To feel that your life is good and meaningful, it’s important to write with purpose. Margarita Huerta discusses this concept in her book Writing with Purpose, Peace, and Passion. Having a clear purpose for your writing helps you establish motivation and guides you in sustaining your writing. Therefore, Huerta (2024) emphasizes that it’s essential that you identify an appropriate purpose for your writing. For instance, my purpose for writing academic articles and books is to contribute to the education of language learners and enhance the happiness of others (Ribeiro, 2024). This example illustrates what Huerta refers to as “a big picture purpose for your writing.” According to her, “A big picture purpose transcends yourself and time and includes a sense of responsibility for producing excellence and values” (pp. 39-40). In essence, you write because you believe your work is meaningful and can have a positive impact on others. Writing with this purpose can “lead to higher possibilities of success, enjoyment, and motivation to keep writing” (Huerta, 2024, p. 37), ultimately making you feel more fulfilled as a writer.

Schedule your writing sessions

As a writer, your writing projects are likely part of your life goals. Therefore, making progress on your projects can significantly boost your happiness. One action you can take to make progress toward your writing projects is to schedule your writing sessions, encouraging you to write regularly. Research on the habits of productive faculty suggests that“scheduling your writing sessions is the single best contingency-management strategy you can adopt” (Goodson, 2014, p. 22). Protecting this scheduled writing time is essential for maintaining productivity and advancing your projects.

In short, you can enhance your happiness as a writer by managing negative emotions, writing with purpose, and scheduling your writing sessions.

References

Goodson, P. (2024). Becoming an academic writer: 50 exercises for paced, productive, and powerful writing  (3rd ed.). Sage.
Huerta, M. (2024).  Writing with purpose, peace, and passion: A guide for sustaining your academic writing. 
Kross, E. (2021).  Chatter: The voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it  [Kindle version]. Crown.
Ribeiro, A. (2024).  How to create happiness at work: Seven evidence-based strategies to enjoy your day. 

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Angelica Ribeiro is a writer, researcher, and professor. She is the author of How to Create Happiness at Work, Running into Happiness, and My Happiness Habit Journal. She holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with a focus on English as a second language from Texas A&M University. She has taught English learners and preservice teachers in the United States and Brazil for over 25 years. Angelica has several publications on second language acquisition. She works as a professor in higher education and helps others benefit from her happiness research. When she was a Ph.D. student, Angelica struggled with balancing her academic commitments and personal life, which motivated her to embark on a journey to increase happiness. Her journey was so successful that now she encourages others to create happiness in their busy lives by sharing science-based strategies. Visit https://www.creatinghappiness.today