Yeah, I guess it does start from a place of love. But then maybe along the way, we start thinking too much about what people would think and that starts swaying our work.
Yes. I would write but I would never fully finish any one piece, save for the occasional poem.
I know this because nobody ever sees my poetry, and I still write poetry, just rarely to the point of completion. Poems will occasionally insist that I do finish them, lest they withhold whatever emotional/existential payout I am looking for.
That's amazing. I think writing, in and of itself, has value for the writer. I hope you keep writing your poems and keep finding joy from the gift of writing. :)
Well, I write. I have several essays posted. Few have read them. Even fewer comment even though I encourage dialogue. I’m not sure if those who have read my work even understand what I’m saying. None of that discourages me. I have several “irons in fire”, as it were. Perhaps when I’m gone someone will say, “what an interesting soul.”
Writing acts as a powerful cognitive lever that engages and activates the ‘Task-Positive Network (TPN)’ by demanding active, goal-directed processing, structured execution, and externalized focus.
The mechanism through which writing fires up the TPN—and consequently shifts the brain away from competing internal states—involves several distinct neurocognitive pathways:
1. Goal-Directed Cognitive Control (The Executive Switch)
The TPN (anchored by regions like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and frontal eye fields) governs attention, working memory, and problem-solving. Writing is fundamentally an external, goal-oriented task. To construct a sentence, your brain must:
- Maintain a target objective in working memory.
-Select appropriate vocabulary while inhibiting irrelevant thoughts.
- Monitor syntax, grammar, and logical flow.
This high demand for executive oversight forces the central executive network to come online, driving metabolic activity into the TPN.
2. Suppression of the Default Mode Network (DMN)
The brain operates largely on a seesaw dynamic between the TPN and the Default Mode Network (DMN)—the network responsible for mind-wandering, self-referential thought, autobiographical memory, and emotional rumination.
- When you are passive or overwhelmed, the DMN often dominates, sometimes feeding loops of anxiety, worry, or recursive mental pain.
- Because the TPN and DMN generally exhibit an ‘anticorrelated relationship’(when one goes up, the other tends to go down), engaging the heavy cognitive machinery required for writing actively suppresses DMN overactivity. Writing anchors the mind in ‘this present moment, just this’,crowding out internal static.
3. Multisensory and Motor Integration (Especially Handwriting)
The physical act of writing—particularly handwriting as opposed to digital typing—recruits an extensive web of sensorimotor circuits.
-Fine Motor Control:The precise biomechanical movements required to form letters demand continuous cerebellar and motor cortex engagement.
-Visuospatial Feedback:
Watching the ink or tip move across the page integrates visual processing with motor output.
Research into functional connectivity demonstrates that handwriting generates robust, synchronized neural firing (such as in the theta band) across motor, sensory, and higher-order cognitive regions, representing a state of deep, embodied TPN engagement.
4. Externalizing Working Memory (Cognitive Offloading)
Writing acts as an external scratchpad. Unprocessed thoughts and emotional distress often trap the brain in loops of high cognitive load. By translating abstract, chaotic internal states into structured linear symbols (words on a page), the brain shifts information from volatile internal working memory into an external artifact. This structural organization requires intense, deliberate TPN activation, transforming amorphous psychological friction into an external object that can be consciously analyzed and reorganized.
No idea, honestly. Maybe she would have profited from it and would have become rich and famous. On the other hand, maybe the audience feedback would have steered her in a direction that would be unoriginal and she would have lost her path. We just dont know.
Fabulous article about this "Nanny".
As for writing purely for myself... Absolutely. Is it not what we do until we dare to show and or publish our work?
Yeah, I guess it does start from a place of love. But then maybe along the way, we start thinking too much about what people would think and that starts swaying our work.
I do that currently. I have a blog and now a Substack. There is only one person I know of so far who says they have read anything I have written.
Now I’m curious who that person is. hahah.
Keep writing. Keep creating. :)
I am. Not much yet…
But my bald head has it’s hair flying back!
Hope you get to write more and more. :)
Yes. I would write but I would never fully finish any one piece, save for the occasional poem.
I know this because nobody ever sees my poetry, and I still write poetry, just rarely to the point of completion. Poems will occasionally insist that I do finish them, lest they withhold whatever emotional/existential payout I am looking for.
That's amazing. I think writing, in and of itself, has value for the writer. I hope you keep writing your poems and keep finding joy from the gift of writing. :)
Thank you for this✨️
You're welcome. I'm glad it resonated. :)
I have written when no one would read it in the past. I currently write now without readers in various forms of writing, like journaling.
Yeah, for most of us, there's this inherent need to write. Completely relatable. Keep writing and creating. :)
I love this. If writing were just for others, it wouldn’t bring the healing, clarity, and joy it does that only comes from within.
Absolutely. I think we wouldn’t be writing or creating much if the motiviation didn’t come from within. It’s pure joy, in and of itself.
If I don’t get it out of my head I’m going to go nuts! Lol no but really…
Same here Elizabeth 😀
Well, I write. I have several essays posted. Few have read them. Even fewer comment even though I encourage dialogue. I’m not sure if those who have read my work even understand what I’m saying. None of that discourages me. I have several “irons in fire”, as it were. Perhaps when I’m gone someone will say, “what an interesting soul.”
Write on Joey. :)
Writing acts as a powerful cognitive lever that engages and activates the ‘Task-Positive Network (TPN)’ by demanding active, goal-directed processing, structured execution, and externalized focus.
The mechanism through which writing fires up the TPN—and consequently shifts the brain away from competing internal states—involves several distinct neurocognitive pathways:
1. Goal-Directed Cognitive Control (The Executive Switch)
The TPN (anchored by regions like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and frontal eye fields) governs attention, working memory, and problem-solving. Writing is fundamentally an external, goal-oriented task. To construct a sentence, your brain must:
- Maintain a target objective in working memory.
-Select appropriate vocabulary while inhibiting irrelevant thoughts.
- Monitor syntax, grammar, and logical flow.
This high demand for executive oversight forces the central executive network to come online, driving metabolic activity into the TPN.
2. Suppression of the Default Mode Network (DMN)
The brain operates largely on a seesaw dynamic between the TPN and the Default Mode Network (DMN)—the network responsible for mind-wandering, self-referential thought, autobiographical memory, and emotional rumination.
- When you are passive or overwhelmed, the DMN often dominates, sometimes feeding loops of anxiety, worry, or recursive mental pain.
- Because the TPN and DMN generally exhibit an ‘anticorrelated relationship’(when one goes up, the other tends to go down), engaging the heavy cognitive machinery required for writing actively suppresses DMN overactivity. Writing anchors the mind in ‘this present moment, just this’,crowding out internal static.
3. Multisensory and Motor Integration (Especially Handwriting)
The physical act of writing—particularly handwriting as opposed to digital typing—recruits an extensive web of sensorimotor circuits.
-Fine Motor Control:The precise biomechanical movements required to form letters demand continuous cerebellar and motor cortex engagement.
-Visuospatial Feedback:
Watching the ink or tip move across the page integrates visual processing with motor output.
Research into functional connectivity demonstrates that handwriting generates robust, synchronized neural firing (such as in the theta band) across motor, sensory, and higher-order cognitive regions, representing a state of deep, embodied TPN engagement.
4. Externalizing Working Memory (Cognitive Offloading)
Writing acts as an external scratchpad. Unprocessed thoughts and emotional distress often trap the brain in loops of high cognitive load. By translating abstract, chaotic internal states into structured linear symbols (words on a page), the brain shifts information from volatile internal working memory into an external artifact. This structural organization requires intense, deliberate TPN activation, transforming amorphous psychological friction into an external object that can be consciously analyzed and reorganized.
Remember this:
You don't need permission to dream bigger.
You don't need perfect timing to begin.
You don't need everyone to believe in you.
You only need the courage to take today's step and the discipline to take tomorrow's.
That's encouraging David. Thanks for your thoughts. :)
Hello https://substack.com/@princejefferson/note/p-206571336?r=6204je
Well, currently I have the feeling nobody reads my work, but still I keep writing, there’s no other way 🖋️
Exactly, there’s no other way to live. Keep creating. :)
although Likes and feedbacks encourages, but writing is like meditating… do it for self… world can decide to read or ignore
💯
But what would have happened if she did get her work published?
No idea, honestly. Maybe she would have profited from it and would have become rich and famous. On the other hand, maybe the audience feedback would have steered her in a direction that would be unoriginal and she would have lost her path. We just dont know.
I will write about everything until there’s nothing left to write about. Writing is cathartic to me, even when nobody reads it.
Love the energy. Keep writing and creating. :)