In Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, she insists upon a daily ritual called "Morning Pages."

I've been doing them for the past year.

AND I PROMISE YOU: it's the greatest thing I've ever done for my writing career.

Ever.

Here's how they work:

1. First thing in the morning (even before checking email!) open a blank document, either on paper or on your computer.

2. Spew out every single thought and/or idea that's running through your mind. Dreams, worries, fears, annoyances, ideas, what you did the day before, everything. (Most of it will be negative. Don't worry about that.)

3. Keep writing until you've filled up three pages. You simply show up and write, "This is how I feel."

4. When you're done, don't even read it. Just save it in a folder called "Morning Pages."

5. Then, get on with your day's work.

That's pretty much it.

That's the best thing I've ever done for my writing career.

But don't it from me.

Take it from Julia, someone who's not only written 20+ books and taught writing and creativity, but someone who's been writing morning pages every day for decades.

Straight from Julia's books, here are 32 reasons to do Morning Pages.

First, here's what they ARE:

o They are time outs.
o They are portable solitude.
o They are rituals of reflection.
o They are a form of meditation.
o They help you listen to yourself.
o They are the first check-in of the day.
o The basic tool of creative unblocking.
o They are psychological holding environments.
o They are gateways to inner and higher selves.
o They are gripe sessions where you work out your grudges.
o They are moments of free association and celebration.
o They get the shanks out and bring forth the good stuff.
o They are catcher's mitts for many small ideas that lead to larger breakthroughs.

Second, here's what they DO:

o Morning pages lend you stability.
o Morning pages provide intimacy.
o Morning pages prioritize your day.
o Morning pages keep you grounded.
o Morning pages give you a place to ventilate.
o Morning pages give you the privacy you crave.
o Morning pages reveal weaknesses AND strengths.
o Morning pages are quick to suggest solutions
o Morning pages prove that we are not trapped
o Morning pages help you take accurate stock of your life.
o Morning pages render us present to the moment.
o Morning Pages are places to examine many aspects of an experience.
o Morning pages are places to reframe our failures into lessons learned.
o Morning pages sweep up the house of your consciousness.
o Morning pages introduce us to an unsuspected inner strength and agility.
o Morning pages allow you to spit out what is troubling you NOW, just when you "should" be grateful.
o Morning pages galvanize your days and make you acutely attuned to your personal feelings.
o Morning pages risk honesty on page, which make it easier to be honest else.
o Morning Pages are places to approach our next challenge from an emotionally neutral or positive stance.
o Morning pages give us immediate access to creative energy, point us in the direction of our growth and make us intimate with ourselves and that allows us to be more authentically intimate with others,
o Morning pages teach us what we like and don't like and move us closer to our authentic selves.
o Morning pages allow venting for your feelings, which gives you room for more feelings, positive ones.

Lastly, here's why they're so EFFECTIVE:

o You awaken your intuition.
o You need to release thoughts.
o You must train your censor to stand aside.
o You get current, catch up on yourself and pinpoint precisely what you are feeling and thinking
o You tap into a creative energy that flows like a subterranean river through your life.
o You can find out what you like and don't like.
o You can report precisely and just let yourself write.
o You get down on the page whatever it is you are.
o You keep your spirit from being parched and dry.
o You can miniaturize irrational worries and underscore legitimate concerns in a sorting process.
o You can shape your lives by your authentic desires.
o Your problems are exposed and solutions are suggested.
o You draw to your attention those areas of your life that need your focus.
o You discover that a little trickle of writing keeps the flow from closing down completely.

Because a writer writes. Always.

As Julia says, "Only in writing do you discover what you know. And writing teaches you something: that you never write just what you know. You write what you learn as you're writing. Ideas come to you and trigger other ideas. Thoughts crystallize and connect with others, and the combination produces a compound: an insight."

Wow

Morning pages. Best thing ever.

Start today. Never stop.

Thanks, Julia!

LET ME ASK YA THIS...

Have you done your Morning Pages today?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS...