MORNING PAGE 'RULES'

Morning page rules are more like guidelines than hard, inflexible commands. Read what The Artist Way book has to say. The suggestions and insights speak directly to the soul of the artist. One comes to adhere to the 'rules' because they work. Julia Cameron knows her stuff!

WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME?

Ideally, morning pages are written in the morning. Taken as a sacred practice, partly intended to set the tone and to align one's self with the Great Creator, the pages become installed in the morning routine along with teeth brushing and breakfast.

MORNING PAGES —
AT NIGHT

Mornings don't always run smoothly. There are days, despite stern resolve, when there is simply no time for writing pages.

For many reasons it is ideal to do Morning Pages at the beginning of the day, it is certainly better to do them at the end of the day than not at all.

3 LONG-HAND PAGES

The size of the Page is not specifically defined by Julia Cameron. In my experience, to honour the process of writing Morning Pages and to have them work their magic, the size of the page ought to be 8 1/2 X 5 1/2 at the least.

PLAYING CATCHUP

On days when chaos breaks out and repeated attempts still don't create space for writing Morning Pages, even at the very end of the day, what does a person do?

One missed day, perhaps after 120!!! in a row, can be the undoing of even a strong, nurturing habit. The sense of loss of the 'perfect' record can provide just the right excuse to put it off the next day, then …

Instead of allowing the vitality to drain out of a solid or even fledgling Morning Page practice, ease up. Build a little wiggle room into the habit.

On the day after the chaos, do 6 long-hand Morning Pages. If there's been 2 days from hell, do 9 pages all in one sitting. Yes it's tough, but less so than the torque it takes to start over.