Category: writing

How Writing Can Improve Mental Health

Ernest Hemingway famously said that writers should “write hard and clear about what hurts.” Although Hemingway may not have known it at the time, research has now shown that writing about “what hurts” can help improve our mental health. There are more than 200 studies that show the positive effect of writing on mental health. But…


Oval Office Authors: Presidents, Pens, and Paper

Many of our modern presidents have written books. When running for office, they frequently publish political manifestos outlining their vision for America or autobiographies describing obstacles they’ve overcome to reach to the top. On leaving office, they reverse this process and write of their days in the White House, the crises they faced, the grace…


Oval Office Authors: Presidents, Pens, and Paper

Many of our modern presidents have written books. When running for office, they frequently publish political manifestos outlining their vision for America or autobiographies describing obstacles they’ve overcome to reach to the top. On leaving office, they reverse this process and write of their days in the White House, the crises they faced, the grace…


Sages, Saints, and Surprises: Some Writing That Shaped America

Since the 18th century, the printed word has influenced the course of American history. From  the founding of the United States, its literacy rates were higher than the countries of Europe. In his article “The Spread of Education Before Compulsion,” Edwin West of the Foundation for Economic Education writes that by 1800, literacy among white American…


Wholesome Life Lessons for All in ‘On the Art of Writing’ by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch

Last year, while thumbing through books in my local thrift shop, I stumbled upon an intriguing book called “On the Art of Writing” by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. It’s a simple paperback published in 1946. (The book was first published in 1916.)  The book is a series of lectures that Quiller-Couch presented to students at Cambridge…