Morning Pages are a key strategy that Julia Cameron lays out in her book, The Artist’s Way.

This book is a 12-week creative recovery tool to help all creatives, not just writers, reignite their creativity.

Divided into 12 chapters, you’re guided through weekly activities and reflections that will support you to move from creatively drained or burned out to inspired again!

As a writer, I worked through her book after almost 2 years of not working on my creative writing projects.

I was incredibly defeated and seeking a way back to my passion.

One of the daily activities that Cameron insists we complete is Morning Pages, and I was pleasantly surprised by my results.

If you’re interested in learning more about the entire Artist’s Way journey, check out my previous blog post on the book here.

Today, we’ll focus on using Morning Pages to reinspire our writing journey.

If you need to get back to writing after a long hiatus, find inspiration or recover from writer’s block, Morning Pages has the potential to remain a lasting habit in your writing routine. 

Let’s get started!

Morning Pages are 3 pages of longhand writing to be written daily, first thing when you wake up, before you jump into the daily grind.

Cameron explains that Morning Pages are an act of stream-of-consciousness writing.

There are no prompts to follow. You’re not forcing yourself to work on your WIP or write about anything in particular.

You are writing about whatever comes to mind without stopping.

Keep your hand moving across the page and brain dump all the thoughts, half-formed, without punctuation if needed. 

Just get it all out!

As Cameron says, “There is no wrong way to do morning pages.”

It’s not meant to be art, seen by anyone else, or even reread by you.

Cameron explains that what we write down will often be fragmented and negative (think whiny or complaining), and that’s awesome because that ‘brain gunk’ is what’s getting in the way of your creativity.

The process of writing Morning Pages is there to help you unblock.

This could be “unblocking your creativity.”

It could mean that you’re learning to set aside your perfectionism by allowing yourself to write without expectations.

Whatever worry, fear or hangup is stopping you from accessing your creativity, that’s what we’re unblocking here.

For us perfectionists who allow our negative self-talk (Cameron calls it ‘The Censor’) to dictate our life and beliefs, we use Morning Pages to dump all of that out. 

We leave those challenges and doubts behind because the Morning Pages aren’t meant to be literary perfection. There is no pressure to ‘get it right.’

Some days, you’ll write until you hit the end of page 3 and think nothing of it after putting them away. 

On occasion, you may hit upon an insight you wouldn’t have worked through otherwise.

As Cameron explains, when you’re stuck on something and you have to write about it day after day, at some point, potentially unconsciously at first, you discover solutions.

Morning Pages are the push you needed to enact change. You will take action.

So, there I was, not having written a single story in almost two years, feeling guilty and embarrassed, allowing imposter syndrome to set in.

I figured there was no harm in trying Cameron’s 12 weeks of activities.

It was only 3 months after all.

First thing in the morning, I dedicated myself to writing those 3 pages before work.

At first, it was a struggle; my brain felt foggy.  

It was like wading through thick gunk.

For a while, I forced myself to write, and when I had nothing to put down on the page, I took Cameron’s advice and wrote, “I don’t know what to write,” over and over until words, sentences, thoughts returned to me.

Eventually, the Morning Pages became more interesting.

I jotted down questions and musings I had. I flipped from one idea to another.

I didn’t return to creative writing immediately, but somewhere within that second month, I pulled out a half-finished manuscript that I’d tucked away.

I started writing again!

Slowly, at first. I’d set a 5-minute timer and add to my story.

By the end of that spring, I had a completed manuscript. I was excited to write again. 

Somewhere, within the process of Morning Pages, I realized that the writer’s ideals of my youth were outdated.

As a working professional, gone were the long, lazy days and late-night writing sessions. I had other obligations, and writing only when inspired was no longer sustainable.

I realized that I don’t always need to be in the mood to write. I can write anyway. 

I realized that 5 minutes of writing my manuscript daily ends up as a completed story in the end. 

Daily word counts and long writing sessions didn’t need to be the norm.

I often write for longer than 5 minutes now. But it’s not hours at a time. I don’t write every day or even every week, and that’s ok!

Yet, I have been consistent. I haven’t fallen off writing since incorporating Morning Pages into my creative recovery.

Why do I think this worked?

I needed to get back into writing for writing’s sake before I could work towards my creative goals again.

I needed to be gentle on myself. 

I needed to build a writing routine gradually with a flexible mindset that allowed for pauses and restarts without feeling guilty.

Do I still write morning pages daily? No. 

Not all creatives continue the process.

What I have taken from this routine is a weekly journaling session where I can brain dump all those gunked-up thoughts onto the page, move on and enjoy my writerly journey in the new week.

So, if you’re struggling to write, if your creativity seems to have disappeared, give it a try.

Commit to writing Morning Pages for one month to start. See how it goes.

And don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day. New habits don’t come easily at first.

To learn more about Morning Pages and check out Julia Cameron’s book, click here.

Her 12-week journey includes a lot more, and working with the entire course may bring you the best success for your creative recovery.

I hope that this tool will be a great resource for you along your creative writing journey!

Share a writing block that you have. How do you plan to let Morning Pages serve you?

Talk soon!

Julia