Writing is an amazing cure for all sorts of things!

Yes.

But not a cure for writer's block.

Eric Barker's article does showcase how writing can help with other ailments:

There are no solid answers but there’s plenty of research showing the human mind needs meaning — a story to make sense of what has happened.

Only then can it rest. Writing forces you to organize your thoughts into a coherent structure. It helps you make sense of life.

Here’s Jamie:

One thing is that writing helps to organize our experiences…What we find is that people who benefit tend to increase their use of words to suggest thinking. They’re using certain cognitive words. These include causal words like “because,” “cause and effect.” They include insight words: “understand,” “realize” “no” and so forth.

Not only do people who use expressive writing feel better afterward, but that relief has real world benefits.

Those who wrote about the stress of being laid off were more likely to find jobs.

How much writing are we talking about?

2) Commit To 20 Minutes For Four Days

Commit to writing about what’s bothering you for 20 minutes on four consecutive days.

This is what the bulk of the research shows provides the best benefits. You can do more if you want; this is a minimum.

Via Expressive Writing: Words That Heal:

What if you want to keep writing after twenty minutes ? Then keep writing. The twenty-minute rule is an arbitrary minimum. That is, plan to write for at least twenty minutes each day with the understanding that you can write more, but you shouldn’t write less… What if you find that you enjoy writing and want to continue past four days? Do it. Many people find that once they begin writing, they realize they have many issues to think about. Write for as many days as you need — just think of the four days as a minimum.

When’s the best time to do it? End of the workday seems to be a good time for many people.

it works for me!  i do much better when i write every day.

Gretchen Rubin says what you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.

http://pandawhale.com/post/26217/what-you-do-every-day-matters-more-than-what-you-do-once-in-a-while-gretchen-rubin

she's right!

If you do it every day, it's a habit. If you don't do it every day, it's a hobby.