What Are Morning Pages and How Can They Help Academic Writers?

I first started keeping a journal sometime in early adolescence after reading the Diary of Anne Frank for the first time. My journal writing became more sporadic in my adult years, really tapering off after marriage and childbirth. I had good intentions of chronicling my son’s first year. He found the journal recently; I think I made two entries.

For about six years, beginning in 2014, I made sporadic entries in the My Wonderful Days app. Then, when the W.H.O. announced the coronavirus pandemic in March of 2020, I made almost daily entries through June. In September of that year, I started a bullet journal, returning to a paper journal for the first time in probably 15 years. But those first entries were spare, constrained by the daily bujo spread, and sometimes not even half a page.

Then I learned about the concept of Morning Pages when listening to an old episode of Katie Linder’s Think, Write, Revise podcast and began incorporating this into my morning routine. I’ve been doing Morning Pages almost every day for the last 10 months.

So what is it exactly? Morning Pages are one of a series of tools for “creative recovery” that Julia Cameron prescribes in her book The Artist’s Way. Cameron advises writers and other creative types to engage in three pages of writing (handwritten) the first thing every morning. In this brief video, her description of Morning Pages evokes a meditation practice, something else I’m trying to cultivate. She calls the Morning Pages a space for cloud writing, for recording the thoughts that float like clouds across our consciousness. Morning Pages aren’t polished writing. In fact, Cameron says they might be full of whining. Yet, this type of clearing exercise, setting down and momentarily setting aside our grievances and concerns, can help us have a greater presence the rest of the day. Author Anne Lamott calls Morning Pages “a cognitive centering device.”

For me, Morning Pages entails sitting down with my bullet journal and my first cup of coffee while everyone else is still in bed or just beginning to stir. Occasionally, the dog will wedge himself in my chair beside me while I write. I spend about 20 minutes writing—sometimes more, sometimes less. I write 2 to 3 pages, sometimes less if I just don’t have much to say. Rarely more. The typical entry starts as a rundown of the previous day—what I did, accomplishments, news from the family or the world, small victories, challenges, frustrations, etc. I may also spend some time reflecting on what’s on tap for the day ahead, figuring out what is most important, thinking through potential challenges. I review the entries as part of my weekly reflection at the end of each week. Then, I make note of wins, challenges, things that brought me pleasure, and sources of gratitude.

I may also use the space to reflect on a current writing or editing project—perhaps trying to develop a new approach or figure out a solution to a vexing problem. I may sketch some notes for a blog post or a new service offering, or I may just make a list of things I need to do or that are worrying me.

For me, one potential benefit of this approach is that it helps capture the forward momentum I am making on a project, something that can be difficult to see with more extensive editing and writing tasks. It also provides a space for me to do early thinking about something I’m not quite ready to tackle. I frequently find myself going back to my journal entries for language or a framework for starting a new project or moving one forward.

Recently, I listened to Sarina Bowen and KJ Dell’Antonio talk about their foray into Morning Pages on the #amwriting podcast (which gave me the idea to write about my own practice). I thought their resistance to the exercise was instructive. For example, Bowen suggested that she was reluctant to add more writing to her day when she already had significant writing goals to meet. I suspect that many academic writers might feel the same way, especially if the primary purpose of that writing won’t contribute to the current writing project. Yet, Bowen found that the practice did make her writing day more productive. In addition to mind-clearing, she used the pages to begin mapping out the day’s writing task, what we might think of as prewriting.

There’s also just the reality that writing for 20 minutes first thing in the morning won’t work for everyone—I’m looking at you, working parents, struggling to get the kids fed and out the door to school in the morning. I struggle with this a bit myself since I already have a full morning routine. But I also know from experience that I am less likely to journal (or do anything else) if I put it off to the end of the day. For others, midday or right before bed might be the best time to engage in this type of writing. And I can see the benefits of both approaches. Taking 20 minutes of your midday break to reflect on how the day has gone so far and to think about what’s ahead can be an essential reset opportunity. Late evening journaling might help record the most important reflections on the day and capture the things you don’t want to forget, clearing space for a restful night.

One final issue: does it have to be handwritten? I moved away from the electronic journal because I wanted to have greater integration between my paper planner and my journal. A bullet journal allowed me to accomplish that, and I found it pretty easy to incorporate the longer Morning Pages entries into that format by moving away from daily spreads and using only monthly and weekly spreads. I also like that writing longhand forces me to unplug—if only for 20 minutes a day. I’m less likely to get distracted and check email or social media when I’m not journaling on my phone or tablet. You may find you can achieve the mind-clearing and productivity/creativity benefits of Morning Pages using a dedicated Word file, the notes app on your phone, or some other electronic system. Find the time and system that works best for you to develop a daily writing habit.

What about you? Are you using Morning Pages to jumpstart your productivity or creativity? If so, how are you personalizing the tool to work for you?