If you’re a fan of journaling or have ever heard of The Artist’s Way, then you’ve probably heard about Morning Pages.

Some people roll their eyes at the idea. Others swear by them.

I myself have journaled for years and I’ve been writing for over a decade, but I haven’t been able to find any kind of consistency in either until I started sticking to my Morning Pages.

I used to think of Morning Pages and think, “meh, not really for me.” Now I swear by them.

But what even are Morning Pages?

In this post we are going to cover what Morning Pages are, a few key things that they can reveal, as well as some tips for doing them and actually sticking with it.

What are Morning Pages? (and why they work)

Morning Pages are one of the basic tools mentioned in the introduction of The Artist’s Way. They are essentially 3 pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness.

They are not meant to be anything fancy or creative, they are simply intended as a brain dump done first thing in the morning before you start your day.

Their purpose is to clear the mental clutter, unlock creativity, and build self-awareness.

When talking about the Morning Pages, Cameron mentions that a lot of artists get worried about this part of the course because they don’t see themselves as writers, but then explains that writers are often the ones who struggle the most with Morning Pages.

This is because we are meant to write the three pages without stopping to think about what to write or going back and editing.

The Morning Pages are meant to be real, raw, and unfiltered.

What Morning Pages Can Reveal

The consistent use of Morning Pages is a powerful tool for blocked artists as the pages can reveal a lot about ourselves that we may not have even realized we were suppressing.

Share personal insights

Our Morning Pages can expose deep personal insights such as thought patterns, limiting beliefs, ideas you didn’t know you had and that can all hold you back from your craft.

I view myself as a writer, and didn’t even realize that I was holding myself back from writing because it felt like I was betraying the career I had built in healthcare and the team I worked with there. It might seem silly, but subconsciously I was holding myself back out of fear of abandoning my colleagues. The Morning Pages helped me see this.

Surface emotions

Doing the Morning Pages can help bring emotions to the surface that you might not have even realized were being suppressed. Not to mention creative resistance, procrastination triggers, and even hidden desires, all things that we may have learned as children are not safe and so we shut them out.

Build emotional resilience

The regular practice of Morning Pages can help build emotional resilience and mental clarity. Spending every single morning complaining about the same things over and over again, after a point you start to notice the behaviors and patterns that aren’t working and you begin to make changes.

A gentle surprise

More often than not, people surprise themselves with what might come up during their Morning Page sessions. Negative beliefs, old coping mechanisms and survival tactics that are no longer useful but weight you down in your day to day life.

Tips for Getting Started (and Actually Sticking With It)

Keep your journal by your bed

A lot of us wake up in the morning and immediately start scrolling on our phones. This is not only not helpful, but it’s also a perfect time to do your Morning Pages. So write before checking your phone in the morning, don’t censor yourself, whatever comes to you as you are writing, write it. Had a weird dream that you’ll forget as soon as you get up? Write it. Have a laundry list of things to do? Write it.

Be consistent

It’s okay if it feels boring or pointless at first, consistency is the most important part. You can write “I don’t know what to write” over and over again until your 3 pages are filled. That’s okay. What’s important is developing the habit of keeping pen to paper.

Still not sure if this is for you?

Give it 2 weeks before judging its impact, you may surprise yourself.

And for more tips on journaling, check out my guide here.

Key Takeaways

• Morning Pages are 3 pages of longhand writing, strictly stream of conscious
• They don’t need to be fancy and are often repetitive
• The key is consistently showing up to do them

Conclusion

The Morning Pages are an integral part of The Artist’s Way as they force you to actually start showing up and build consistency.

While they can be deep, poetic, philosophical, they are mainly a tool to dump out mental clutter so that you can move on with your day (and life).

Morning Pages reveal parts of us that we don’t even realize we’ve buried and have a way of showing us the bigger picture of our lives. Especially when done consistently, they can be the jumping off point for so much reflection and mental clarity.

So, will you be trying Morning Pages?