Morning pages: what they are and how you can practice

Improve your writing every day with morning pages and make content more creatively

The most important part of this exercise is to follow the flow

Definitely, when I think about how I have been improving my writing in the last years, I remember: my morning pages. 

Morning pages is a simple exercise of writing every day, about any topic. The first time I did hear about this practice was when I read the book: O caminho do artista: desperte o seu potencial criativo e rompa seus bloqueios, written by Julia Cameron. 

Although I had read this book a few years ago, since I learned the benefits of this exercise, I have never stopped. Until today, I have written every day. But, before I explain how I include the morning pages in my routine, let’s understand a little more about how Julia Cameron suggests practicing this exercise. 

Morning pages by Julia Cameron

In the book, Cameron explains that one way for us to find our creativity is by doing morning pages. She says to write three pages every day — of course, by hand — about anything. 

For example, in this exercise you can write about:

• You;

• Your family;

• Your dog

• Jobs;

• Projects;

• Your birthday party;

• Your neighborhood… whatever you want. 

The most important part of this exercise is to follow the flow. No judgment, no criticism, nothing. Only your writing, your continuous stream of consciousness.

But Sabrina (you can ask me), what is the difference between morning pages and diary?

My answer for you is… it depends on how your look at this process.

When I was teenager, I wrote in my diary. I loved it. But I wrote about how my day was. When I think about this, I understand a diary with more factual. Morning pages are different. Of course, you can write about your day, no problem. But for me, these texts help us improve our creative process, because we are practicing writing. As simple as that.

Look what Julia says about this exercise:

Insights of the book O caminho do artista: desperte seu potencial criativo e rompa seus bloqueios

Benefits to write every day

Writing every day is valuable, especially when we are writing by hand. Yes! 

This practice is so important that, according to the Letra cursiva volta a ser exigida nas escolas da Califórnia, published on the CNN website, California State Law 446, enacted in October, requires calligraphy instruction for over 2 million students from first to sixth grade, aged 6 to 12, in addition to cursive writing classes for the “appropriate” grades (generally considered from third grade onwards).

This text also shares what experts say about this topic. According to them, learning cursive writing improves cognitive development, reading comprehension and fine motor skills.

Another article, this time published in O Globo, titled Por que a escrita à mão estimula a mente? Psicóloga explica, reveals handwriting activates areas of the brain linked to memory, attention, and creativity, according to the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research.

The text goes on to state that, unlike typing, handwriting is a process that requires simultaneous coordination between fine motor skills, visual perception, and memory, generating greater brain activation.

So, in general, writing by hand helps:

• Stimulate creativity

• Develop critical thinking

• Activate memory

• It is good for mental health

My morning pages

Morning pages: my special moment

For me writing is a special moment. Through my morning pages, I can swing in my wish, some problems and dreams deeply to analyze questions, release my mind from bad thoughts and also, to build ways to help me achieve my goals. 

In my case, although I love writing my pages in the morning, different from the suggestion by Cameron, I also write in the afternoon or night. And a second point is the quantity. I don’t have a specific number of pages to write. I write following my stream of consciousness. Sometimes it is two paragraphs, and that's ok. For me, the most important thing is to practice writing and express my thoughts.

The morning pages are one of the different ways to improve our writing. So, we need to understand which approaches make sense for each of us. For me, to follow that way was better and helped me practice more in my routine.

And you… 

Do you know this exercise?

Have you done the morning pages before?

Share with us how it was and what you like the most about this practice.

Until the next content!👋🏼