If you are thinking of taking up a new hobby, you may consider writing among others. While it is not as trendy as adult colouring books or coding, it has various advantages that not many other activities can offer you.

All the ways writing can benefit you

Similar to many other hobbies, writing can effectively reduce stress levels. That is not only because it is a peaceful and quiet activity, but also because it allows you to better deal with your emotions by putting them down on paper. No matter whether you are sad, excited, helpless or angry, you can give voice to your feeling by simply writing about them. Another effective stress-coping strategy is to write about something that has no relation to you and to your life as a means of escape.

Regular writing is one of the best ways to expand your vocabulary and keep your grammar up-to-date. What is more, it will help you express yourself better and thus polish up your communication skills. Unlike other activities like language learning, the beneficial effects of daily writing are well-pronounced not only in children, but also in adults.

Also, the more you write, the sharper your analytical skills will become. That is due to the fact that you not only need to give reign to your creativity, but you also need to find a way to structure it in a logical way. You may not realize it, but when you write, your brain goes through every word you consider typing or putting down, analyzing the possible emotional effects they may have on the reader.

Pictured: How does the act of writing affect your brain

The good old pen and paper

It is scientifically proven that writing by hand is much more beneficial to us than typing. While both activities stimulate many regions in the brain, using a pen or a pencil activated even more areas in our grey matter, among which are:

• Frontal lobe – related to speech
• Parietal lobe – connected to language and word processing
• Reticular activating system (RAS) – used when we try to focus

When we write something by hand all of these areas light up at the same time. That is because our brain is busy analyzing, coordinating and processing things like the size of the separate letters, their place on the sheet of paper, the types of strokes the hand needs to make and etc. Believe it or not, writing by hand is indeed a very complex process.

Pictured: Main components of handwriting

Fun exercises to get you started

Many people view writing like broccoli – good for you, but not very fun. If you feel the same way, you can try doing different writing exercises. They will encourage you to use your imagination in a new and unusual way. Try opening a book on a random page and basing a whole story on the first sentence that you see or go through a magazine and pretend you are in one of the pictures in it.

Let’s not forget that writing is one of the cheapest hobbies you can take up. All you need is a pen, a notebook and your imagination.