The Surprising Power of Morning Pages
How one simple habit can help you refocus and recalibrate for the new year
Morning Friend,
Hope you are enjoying this lovely Wednesday we are having. If you are new here, why don’t you subscribe to get weekly emails about writing in your inbox:
As for me, it has been dreary, wet, and intermittently hot and freezing (hello head cold) on my side of the world. I have to say, I am not a Winter person.
I was born in the middle of February1 and still— not a Winter person. In the past, the winter has been a grouchy time, a time to feel shitty about myself, a time to pick fights with loved ones, a time to stay in bed and never get out, and a time to moan about the bad weather (see? still didn’t kick that one).
But this year— ho ho— I was determined to ward off any signs of seasonal depression with a preventative plan. A revolutionary concept, for me at least.
My plan was to do the following:
Meditate for 5 minutes a day
Set my alarm for 30 minutes earlier than normal
And Journal
The meditation is a habit that I have continued since last winter, and at 5 minutes a day for peace of mind, it’s not a bad bargain. I can talk more about how this small, teensie, tiny habit quite literally changed my life— comment “talk about micro habits” in the comments and I will oblige.
I set my alarm for 30 minutes earlier to catch a little bit more vitamin D and avoid the— it’s too cold to exist drama that usually ensues each and every Winter morning of my life.
And finally— I would unleash my inner, sad snowflake thoughts into a journal— everyday, religiously.
This is when I cam across Morning Pages.
Morning Pages
To be fair, I actually first heard of this concept about 3 years ago from Seth Godin. The idea is simple— write three pages a day first thing in the morning. But the idea didn’t stick until I stumbled upon an interview with the mother of morning pages, Julia Cameron.
Once I heard the interview, I immediately (wished for the book for Christmas) got the book, The Artist’s Way… and the companion journal… and the workbook. And started chugging along.
Cameron touts that you need only two tools to connect with your inner artist: Mornings Pages and Artist Dates. For today, we are going to focus on the former.
The idea of Morning Pages is— that each morning, you wake up and write three, long hand pages of stream of consciousness writing.
Three
Three because the first page is always junk (in my experience), the second page is more exploratory, and the third page is when you might actually see some creative magic happen.
Morning
You do this in the morning while your brain is fresh and has not yet remembered and accepted the realities that your day may demand of you.
Long Hand
Write in long hand— because it’s romantic. That’s not the real reason, but this is a journaling exercise, so it’s good to do it in a journal. And well honestly— it *is* more romantic. It’s just the journal, your pen and you. There are no charging cables, there’s no booting up a device and finding your notes app, and dear God, no one else is supposed to read it, so why have a digital rendering of your innermost thoughts?
Stream of Consciousness
Finally, you will want to write in stream of consciousness. Just let the ideas flow through you. No— not ideas— just words. Let your hand move across the page and just don’t think too much (the first thing in the morning bit helps with that). Nothing you write has to be important or of much significance. This is supposed to be comforting, if alarming for control freaks like myself.
My mom used to tell me this story of how she would run out to her car in the winter time before high school and turn on the engine. The car was old and dying and took a long time to heat up so she would run back inside, finish getting ready, eat some breakfast and maybe even get some homework done before going back out to the warmed up car outside.
This exercise is kind of like that. Trying to drive in a stone cold car is a) super uncomfortable and b) not that great for the car.
So too for writing.
The only difference is that the car will heat itself up— we writers, have to do it manually. (Long hand, remember?)
The Morning Pages accomplish a few things:
For us writers, it helps turn on the creative faucet. Once you start writing, it’s easier to continue.
It allows you to empty out the junk drawer of your mind— do you have a never ending list of things you need to do running through your mind? Write it down. Are you peeved about something someone said three years ago? Write it down. Did you have a particularly alarming dream about polar bears hunting down all of the kids you went to high school with? (That’s just me? My ten year reunion isn’t coming up or anything— no. Definitely not). Anyway— write it down, and then maybe find the phone number of a therapist and write that down too.
The above exercise is like a detox for your creative system. Or just your everyday living system if you are like me. It’s like drawing out the poison so you can actually focus on what’s important.
And finally, you might actually produce some decent ideas— things that would have never occurred to your if you didn’t a) start writing, and b) start writing without purpose or obligation to “The Book” or “The Project” or whatever the hell you are working on right now.
By doing a simple 3 pages of, honestly, trash— you are opening up your subconscious to do one thing— create. Isn’t that a joyous concept?
Write. Write whatever. Write furiously. Write without rules. Just write.
It’s hard. Sometimes I write about how stupid Morning Pages are (Cameron actually suggests this). Sometimes I write about what I did that morning (or evening, because hey, sometimes the mornings are tough), I write about what I am going to do that day, what I wish I could do, all the things I could do in order to accomplish that thing I really wish I could do, and so on.
Sometimes I stop mid sentence and pivot to a completely separate idea that entertains me and before I know it, I have a full page.
These morning pages are not meant to be read. And Cameron suggest that you not read them either— at least for a few weeks.
The purpose of this exercise is output. Pure output.
What I have found after doing Morning Pages is that:
A) I’m writing more
B) I am less stressed
C) I am more organized
D) I am more focused
E) I have more energy
F) I have less time to worry about how much I hate winter because I have three whole pages to write in long hand and it usually takes me a while so I really have to focus if I am going to get it done. And by the end, I have such a clear vision of what I want to do next with my time (because I am either bored or inspired) that I don’t have time to worry about how cold and shitty it is outside.
So yeah— I think you should do morning pages. You can do this today— just grab a journal, or some paper and start writing.
If you want to read the book and learn more about Morning Pages, you can buy it here. As I mentioned earlier, I also purchased the morning pages journal and the Artist’s Way Workbook. Neither are necessary. And some may view them as a waste of money.
Both the journal and the workbook include quotes and short explanations of the exercises that are detailed in The Artist’s Way, but are ultimately journals i.e. a book with lines in it.
I like my copies of these books. But wouldn’t necessarily recommend purchasing them for yourself if you have a budget or if you are particular about the journals that you write in.
In conclusion
I want to like Winter. I really do. I like the idea of snow. Does that count?
With these morning pages, I will hopefully associate the calm, stillness of Winter as a catalyst for my creative process. I’m trying to convince myself that Winter is the season of the Writer.
Regardless, these morning pages really seem to help.
Are you going to start writing morning pages? Let me know in the comments. And be sure to subscribe so that next time you see this post in your inbox.
Also, as an added bonus, The Artist’s Way is endorsed by Anne Lamott, Natalie Goldberg, and Elizabeth Gilbert who have all written books that have wildly inspired me this year.
I have this theory that folks flourish in the season that they were born in. Not me— of course. But everyone I know seems to have this lovely “Spring” or “Autumn” or god forbid, “Winter” energy about them. And then I find out that their birthday is also in that season. My husband is a total Autumn baby, my friends are total Spring babies, you get the idea. Do you find this to be true? Let me know in the comments!
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Hi Alex, I seem to be seeing more references to morning pages lately, must be something in the electrons.
I did a full six week practice years ago and yep, it can be quite hard to fill 3 pages per morning (note that she never really specifies what paper size so there's a difference between, say, an A5 sized notebook page and a 8.5 by 11 page so there's that to consider). I already have a daily journaling practice but occasionally I'll freewrite in a similar style. In my experience this is the kind of practice that you need to get up at least one hour early to do, which is a bit more challenging in the winter.
Glad it's working for you!