Writing is sometimes described as both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because of the enjoyment and all the benefits that come with a writing practice, and a curse because, as many writers know, it can feel like an itch that always needs to be scratched. When not writing, or there’s a writing project not yet started or finished, it can feel like there’s a restless desire to do so. The compulsion or need to write creates both the enjoyment of writing itself and having written something, as well as the dissatisfaction of not writing or leaving a writing project incomplete.
I definitely relate to this dual feeling, or emotional pendulum, of writing. If I haven’t written something (for pleasure, like on this blog) for a while, something feels amiss – the natural urge to write not being satisfied, potential ideas not realised, writing goals or potential unfulfilled. For instance, I have a lot of article ideas, with some of these saved for years now. While I’m unbothered by the ideas I’m no longer interested in, or which would seem repetitive to write about, there are others that I would genuinely like to flesh out, but which I might avoid because of the time, reading, research, mental difficulty, and likely number of words involved to do the topic justice.
With many of these topics I’ve yet to turn into articles or essays, I fall prey to productive procrastination: I write articles that feel less daunting or demanding while putting off other ones. Productive procrastination is understandable, psychologically; this strategy is like a middle ground, or compromise, that still satisfies the urge to write and complete writing projects while at the same time satisfying the impulse to avoid more difficult goals. However, if productive procrastination becomes a habit, these goals will remain unachieved, and so an itch to complete them may still be present.
The motivations or psychology behind the writing itch may be common to people, but they can also vary from person to person. Some that come to mind, which I’ve felt from time to time, include being invested in the identity of oneself as a ‘writer’; attaching self-esteem to what one has written (or what one has left undone); competitiveness (comparing what one has written, or hasn’t written, compared to others); the potential rewards of receiving likes, comments, and shares when posting one’s writing on social media; and the greater comfort, ease, confidence, or ability in expressing oneself through the written word than verbally. In short, the basis of the writing itch can be complex and varied.
However, even if one doesn’t feel that these motivations are applicable, or at least not all the time or not to a great extent, the urge to write can still be powerful. Part of the ‘curse’ aspect of this itch is that, as many writers find, it never goes away. No completed writing project satisfies it. The desire to write is still there. On the other hand, this can be part of the ‘blessing’ of the compulsion to write as well: the continual, returning itch can be what drives one to get writing done, which may also entail benefits like further improving as a writer, having a fulfilling hobby, or turning a writing hobby or passion into a career.
While the writing itch may never completely go away, at least temporarily alleviating it through a finished piece of writing feels rewarding. A finished piece of writing can also feel rewarding in ways that are healthier than some of the motivations noted above (e.g. cometitiveness or attaching too much of one’s identity or self-esteem to writing). For me, a finished article or essay may involve having surprised myself with unexpected ideas or connections between ideas that arose during writing, or there could be the reward of having changed my outlook on something by writing about it.
It’s also worth mentioning the concept of telic (or goal-oriented) activities, as investing too much in these has been linked to dissatisfaction in life. By viewing writing less in terms of tasks to complete and more atelically – as a process or skill with no endpoint – the writing itch can lose this quality of something uncomfortable that needs to be scratched. Instead, an atelic perspective on the writing itch treats it as a recurring urge, like listening to music or spending time with friends, that need not be goal-oriented (even if goals are an important aspect of writing). When treated as an ongoing process without a definite end, the urge to write can help encourage the enjoyment and benefits of writing itself. The problem with basing a writing itch on an anxious need to achieve impressive-sounding goals is that it makes writing more work than play.
