Morning pages is the act of writing three pages of stream-of-consciousness, long-hand writing first thing in the morning. Learn how to make the most out of your morning pages to gain mental clarity, time management, and creative focus.
What is “morning pages”?
Morning pages is the journaling method created by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist Way. It is the practice of writing three pages of stream-of-consciousness, longhand writing first thing each morning.
These pages are to be kept private. They’re a safe space for you to digest reality, work through problems, and organize your thoughts without the pressure of perfectionism or fear of judgment.
🖋 use morning pages to:
- Clear your mind of mental clutter. Like windshield wipers, they clear what doesn’t matter so you can focus on what does. (See: Complaining about relationships + unburdening guilt below.)
- Creative freewrite. With pen and page, tap into your creativity as you are free to word-vomit ideas onto the messy page. Perfectionism doesn’t exist.
- Speak kindly to yourself. Writers can’t depend on others for 24/7 encouragement. Use morning pages to complement your efforts, your writing, and your creative genius. If a plant thrives under gentle words, think how much you will thrive as an artist if you gave yourself the same love and attention.
- Ground yourself in the present. Describe the room: the sights, smells, and sounds.
[Read more about grounding for dopamine detox here]
- Pray. Some things are frankly out of your control. Giving them to God will ease your burden, allowing you to focus your energy on the things you can control.
- Plan your day or week. Do this first thing Monday morning to start your week off right!
- Prioritize. Write every task, then organize them by priority. Use morning pages to “happen” to your day instead of your day “happening” to you.
🔨 Morning pages tools needed
You need three things:
- Time. Approx 20-30 minutes, depending on how the words are flowin.
- A glorious pen. But a crappy one will do.
- A journal. Julia recommends writing 3 pages. The size of your journal pages will determine how much you write. I use a Moleskine XL and fill 1 page a day. Takes me approx. 20-30 minutes!
👉🏻 Check out my “Morning Pages Starter Kit” to see what else I use! 👈🏻
✍🏻 Special note: handwrite your morning pages
I love to type. Typing, I can write approximately one billion words per minute. But when it comes to morning pages, longhand is the name of the game.
Because each word you handwrite exudes a bit of energy, it forces you to get choosy. To write about what matters. To be picky. Deep, not shallow. With each loop and squiggle, you give your brain time to think of the next important thought, instead of a mindless recording of every word that pops into your brain. Be intentional with your pages, and you will benefit the most from them.
✔️ Morning pages tips + Tricks
- Underline key thoughts (like book ideas or pieces of dialogue) as you write to make it easy to return to later. I use the heading of my page if a quick thought comes to mind, like an artist date or a character name.
- Have a writing tool, like a laptop or a Freewrite, ready should sudden inspiration strike! It will surprise you how quickly your ideas flow just by eliminating stress and perfectionism!
- Keep a planner/to-do list nearby for any fleeting reminders. Your brain is for making ideas, not storing them. (I use the Hobonichi weeks.)
📝 Morning pages Journaling prompts
- What decision do you face today? Talk about it. Weigh the pros and cons. Imagine if you went one way with the decision. Imagine if you went the other way. How do they feel?
- Have a solo bitch fest. 🤭 Complain about a relationship (without the guilt of gossiping). What do you wish this person would do? What do you wish they would stop doing for THE LOVE of…? Be petty. Criticize their nose hairs and tell the pages how annoying their voice really is.
- Creative ideas. What would you create if you had no rules? If no one knew your name? If your mother didn’t follow you on social media? 😬
- Ugly thoughts. Ah, yes. Time to find a nice hiding place for your journal. What is the ugliest thought you’ve ever had? The worst thing you’ve ever done? Your dirtiest secret? What is the thing you would do—if you were “a bad person”?
- Positive thoughts. List the things in your room that you love. Compliment your ability to cook (or shop), your exceptional taste, your bad-ass bargain-hunting skills. Love on your cat, your husband, your coffee bar. Everything is awesome.
- Practice your handwriting. If all else fails, if you have nothing or no energy to write, practice your handwriting. Your brain may just need a minute of silence. Give it that minute. Describe the room. Think about breakfast. Live in the moment as you write whatever comes to mind. Even if all you’re doing is trying to make all your loopy Ys the same.
[Want more prompts? Click here!]
😮💨 A note for when things get hard
(Dramatic alert) Some days, morning pages will feel like scraping the metal tip of your pen against the edge of your soul. Try your best to push through. It will be on these days that you uncover a hidden piece of dirt or clutter in your brain that you finally have the time and page space to address. When everything is tidy, you notice where the true dirt hides.
In my experience, those who resist morning pages need it the most. Consider this if you’ve miraculously made it this far and are still deciding the method isn’t for you.
💁🏻♀️ Why morning pages work for creativity
Morning pages help metabolize reality. They free space in our heads and hearts for imagination, creation, and play.
Clear the cutter. Write your pages. Show your pages to no one.
Feel the burden of a cluttered mind lift. Free your imagination from the weight of reality, responsibility, and the tedious Adultness of Adult Life.
That is the power of morning pages.
🧠 Your thoughts
- Have you ever heard of morning pages?
- Do you do them?
- Now that you’ve learned the benefits, will you add morning pages to your routine?
- What do you most look to gain from morning pages?
- Let’s talk in the comments!
Leave a Reply