Writing can serve as more than a means of communication, according to Emily Johnston, a professor of writing studies at UC Merced. Her research explores how the act of writing helps individuals process distress, identify difficult emotions, and manage personal conflict.
Johnston explained that writing does not have to be formal to be beneficial. “Maybe the feelings are too fresh and you don’t have the words yet. So write a to-do list. Write about the cup of coffee on your desk. You’re still exercising that writing muscle. ‘What are the words I’m looking for?’” she said.
She described writing as a way to create distance from challenging experiences and regulate emotional responses: “Writing is a tool we use to communicate, but also to process. It helps us sort out and even change our thinking.
“Writing creates an interruption between something that’s happening and our thoughts about it. This interruption can regulate our nervous system and clarify how we want to respond. I think of writing as a disaster preventionist: It ever-so-subtly closes the emotional floodgates and keeps us from reacting.”
Johnston noted that engaging in writing during moments of stress provides an alternative focus for the brain: “If, instead, I pick up my journal, open my phone’s Notes app, or create a Google doc and start putting my experience into written words, I’m giving my brain something new, yet adjacent, to focus on. I’m directing my attention toward witnessing the experience. I’m not running away from the problem. I’m creating a record of it that I can return to and perhaps share with my partner after we’ve cooled off.”
Labeling emotions through words or symbols can help reduce stress responses as well. “But when we label emotions, like pain, with a grimacing emoji or a colorful phrase, we give them physical form. Our brains can shift from threat-detection mode to making meaning,” Johnston said.
She added that expressing frustration—even through informal language—can foster agency: “In either case, we’re refusing to be swallowed whole by the confusion we feel. Threat is still present, but we have reclaimed a sense of agency.”
Johnston sees resilience not as an innate trait but as something developed through practice: “Yes, I see resilience as something we practice every time we write… What you write might miss the mark… but you’re putting yourself out there.” She encourages her students by emphasizing that any act of writing is an exercise in agency and adaptability.
Handwriting offers distinct cognitive benefits compared with typing because it engages motor skills more intensely and requires active processing while taking notes or organizing ideas on paper—a point supported by neuroscience research referenced by NPR.
According to Johnston, traditional forms of writing may be changing rather than disappearing due in part to digital communication platforms such as social media or messaging apps; global literacy rates have increased alongside these changes.
She recommends broadening definitions of what counts as writing since even informal practices like making lists help people organize thoughts and signal priorities internally: “Try this broadened definition of writing on for size: an everyday practice of thinking on the page that continuously shapes and reshapes who we are.”
For students in STEM fields who may not view themselves as writers, Johnston stressed that all disciplines rely on written work—from lab reports to professional communications—and knowledge sharing depends on it across fields.
Reflecting on her own academic path marked by personal challenges—including addiction and surviving violence—Johnston shared how encountering poetry by Chrystos helped her realize she could support others by telling her story through writing: “The very existence of their writing was evidence that Chrystos wasn’t consumed by trauma… bearing witness, refusing silence, transforming pain.”
Encouraged by faculty support during college recovery programs—including participation in University of California’s Washington D.C.-based internship program—Johnston went on to graduate school where she began teaching first-year writing courses.
