If I get a chance, I like to talk about how writing helps change our lives. Most of what determines what we do and what we feel is determined on the subconscious level. Our brains are wired to work on peak efficiency. Unfortunately, that runs into problems. We need to expound some energy to get things right.

Writing taps into the subconscious and brings things out to be dealt with.  This allows us to have new thoughts.

This may be the most important thing to learn: We are trapped by the patterns of our unconscious thinking.

Here is an interesting video that talks about that:

This is my absolute favorite video on this topic in relation to how writing can help:

The Simple Act of Daily Writing Can Dramatically Improve Your Mental Health | NBCLX

The thing that struck me today is how writing can be a break from our patterns.  A good main character has to have strong traits. So they move forward.  Yes, they have to have faults. But your story is about them working on them. They have to come into play and they have to improve.

In fact, all characters must act in a way that shows a broken pattern. Probably, the main character is impacting them. But a good story cannot be everyday life.

Perhaps that is the catharsis of reading a story. I think it’s why I enjoy the world that I create. It is a world where people have the same discussion or same argument every day. Living through my main character, I break free of avoiding conflict. I can experience words that impact and are not based on a fear and not met with someone else’s pattern of behavior.

I hope that writing helps to break my own patterns of thoughts that become my habits. But at least I get to be in a world where people change and have an arc towards a satisfying conclusion.