I have a daily practice of three longhand pages done first thing on awakening, hence, “Morning Pages.” The pages clear my head and prioritize my day. I think of them as a form of meditation. There is no wrong way to do the pages. You simply keep your hand moving across the page, not pausing […]
Morning Pages
The bedrock tool of a creative recovery is something I call Morning Pages: three pages of longhand, morning writing about absolutely anything. They are to be written first thing in the morning, and shown to no one. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages. I like to think of them as windshield wipers, […]
What to do with Morning Pages?
I say that Morning Pages are a form of meditation. And just as we cannot repeat a meditation, we do not need to review our Morning Pages. I often joke, “First cremate the pages, then worry about the body.” I have had people burn, shred, and bury their Morning Pages. Speaking for myself, I saved […]
“Mourning” Pages
I sometimes think Morning Pages should be called “Mourning Pages.” “Julia, my pages are so negative,” some people say. With morning pages, we end our denial. If something is bothering us, we put it on the page. Often, many things are bothering us, and our pages seem filled with negatives. It’s important to note that […]
Morning Pages– why in the morning?
“Julia,” I am often asked, “Must the Morning Pages be done in the morning?” “Yes,” I answer. “They must be done in the morning.” Why? We are aiming to catch ourselves before our ego is awake, before its defenses are in place. We want to be vulnerable. If we wait to do pages late in […]
“thinking” about your Morning Pages?
Sometimes my students ask me how much they should “think” about what they are going to write in their Morning Pages. I don’t want you to pause and have a mental cigarette and strategize about what you’re going to write. It’s better to just say “here goes” and go right into writing. One thing that’s […]
Morning Pages: why by hand?
In the era of iPads and new technology at every turn, I am asked even more frequently if people really need to do their Morning Pages by hand. In short, the answer is yes. When we write by hand, we connect to ourselves. We may get speed and distance when we type, but we get […]
Morning Pages: why 3 pages?
Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, morning writing about anything. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages, and they are for your eyes only. Doing Morning Pages, we find that we go into our day with more clarity. Although they do take time (about 30-40 minutes), they actually make more time than they […]
Do you worry that you lack discipline?
This is a paradox to me: many of us start off worrying that we will “lack the discipline” to do morning writing. When we are willing to try writing anyway, we find soon enough that morning writing does not take discipline– but it does make discipline. What is it about stumbling blindly to the page, not knowing […]
Writing By Hand
In the advent of more and more technology, Morning Pages remain the same: they need always be done by hand. Hand-writing puts us in touch with our emotions. We learn how we feel about what we say. Writing by computer is a more shallow practice. It yields us speed and distance, but not the depth […]
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