Useful creative tool: Morning Pages

Julia Cameron popularised Morning Pages in her book The Artist's Way.

  

Morning Pages are three pages, written in longhand, the first thing every morning. Read a description of how to do them here.

  

I've had periods of writing Morning Pages over the past ten years, and periods of not writing them. It occurred to me a few days ago that the periods that I did my MPs each morning were MORE CREATIVE. I felt that I was writing what I should be writing at that particular stage. I had fewer doubts, and got more writing done.

 

So I've gone back to writing them, primarily because they help me deal with my inner critic. Here's what Julia Cameron says about her critic.

  

>>> 

JC: I call my critic Nigel. I picked a sort of snooty name because my critic is always telling me that he has better aesthetics than I have. Nigel is alive and well and vicious. Nigel picks what I'm afraid of with each particular piece of writing and tells me my worst fears are true. What I have learned to do is cohabit with him and write around him.

>>> 

 

Try Morning Pages.