This study was designed to develop and initiate the validation of the Affective Cognition Writing Survey (ACWS), a psychological instrument used to measure emotional expression through writing. Procedures for development and validation of the instrument are reported. Subsequently, factor analysis extracted six factors: Positive Processing, Liberating Feelings, Reader Consciousness, Conflict Processing, Inner Exploration, and Emotional Synthesis. The factors have important implications for counseling, conducting research sensitive to writing, emotional intelligence and education. (Contains 4 tables.)