The first time I ever joined a writing group, I noticed a few things pretty quickly:
I was looking forward to writing more than I ever had.
I was more comfortable just getting words down on the page, even if they were messy.
My confidence in my own skills and ability was growing quickly.
Now, the main reason for that was that this was a great writing group, with generous authors who were willing to be vulnerable with one another, offer direct feedback, and cheer one another on.
In founding The Inkwell, I’ve done a lot of research on what makes an effective writing group—like that first one I was ever in—work, and how writing with others can help authors grow in both mindset and skills.
I talked recently about the power of body doubling—the idea that writing with others is basically just peer pressure gone right.
But now I want to dig a little deeper, venturing out of the art world where I’m so comfortable, and into the science world where…let’s just say I have a lot to learn. But for you, I’m happy to stretch my comfort zone.
How Writing Groups Affect Our Brain Chemistry
What’s actually happening in our brains when we’re in the middle of a great group writing session with the right group of people? A lot, it turns out. But in particular, writing with people who support you, want you to succeed, and want you to help them succeed, too, tends to trigger the release of four brain chemicals:
Serotonin
Serotonin, which you know controls feelings of well-being and happiness, is connected to trust and social bonding. Group members who trust each other are prone to sharing their ideas, taking social and intellectual risks, and giving each other honest and constructive feedback.
When you’re writing and working on your practice with a group of other writers you trust, your brain is releasing serotonin that makes you feel like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself—where you feel safe to explore and safe to share, and happy doing so.
Oxytocin
Similar to serotonin, oxytocin helps us build meaningful relationships, creating a sense of belonging and connectedness. Translate that to group writing, and the feeling that you’re in community with other authors you really enjoy being around makes it much easier to…wait for it…keep writing. When you’re feeling those feelings of bonding and community, that human connection is suddenly much more interesting than your newsfeed—even if all you’re doing is working in silence next to each other.
Endorphins
“[Writing in groups] gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t.”
Elle Woods said it all, but I will just add this:
The camaraderie involved in group writing sessions welcomes the kinds of jokes, light conversation, pats on the back, etc., that make otherwise stressful situations feel a little more bearable…and maybe even fun.
If you’ve ever had the experience of stewing all by yourself for hours over a difficult scene, only to have it break open after a run or a chat with a friend or a little dance break to lighten the mood, that’s endorphins at work. They lighten the mood, ease the stakes, and help you push past the tough parts into the fun.
Dopamine
You know that little surge of excitement you feel when a new Instagram notification pops up? Or that bigger feeling of joy when something amazing happens to you IRL? That’s dopamine, and dopamine is connected to enthusiasm and motivation.
When we feel the flood of dopamine, it trains our brains to seek out more of the behavior that caused it. Yes, that can look like infinite scrolling, but we also get dopamine hits from celebrating our wins, big and small.
So take writing. You finish a chapter, you celebrate with a dance party or even just a quick “woohoo!” Your brain releases dopamine, which makes you want to keep writing so you can get to another celebratory moment—another dopamine hit.
Now, add a group to that. They encourage you to celebrate your wins, and they celebrate with you every time. That means you start each writing session with a dopamine hit when you celebrate what you’ve accomplished since the last meeting, and you’re ending with another hit when you celebrate the words you put on the page during the session. (Not to mention the extra hits that come when you celebrate your fellow writers’ successes, too.)
Pretty soon, you’ve trained your brain to seek out the rewards it knows come from writing. And instead of scrolling the ‘gram for your regular dopamine hit, you’re putting pen to paper and words on the page.
Boost Your Brain Chemistry—& Your Writing Life—with The Inkwell
I founded The Inkwell in 2024 in the hopes of building a writing community for authors who want to welcome confidence, camaraderie, and joy back into their writing practice. With a variety of offerings and price points, I’m willing to bet there’s something in The Inkwell that will help boost your brain chemistry, enhance your practice, and make your writing sessions both productive and fun again.