Experiment #2: Writing that's just for you

A practice I rejected years ago but am ready for now

Last week, I talked about doing something just for the fun of it—a project that doesn’t have monetary or career goals attached to it—to help renew creativity.

Writing For You

This week, I wanted to talk about writing that is just for you.

I recently picked up Julia Cameron’s book Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer. Most of you are probably familiar with her most famous work, The Artist’s Way. Write for Life is a newer one by her and is labeled as “A 6-Week Artist’s Way Program” so it builds on her previous work.

One of the main tenets of Julia’s program is the concept of Morning Pages. These are three stream-of-consciousness pages of writing that you write every morning in longhand. You can write about whatever.

Many writers swear by this practice.

A confession

I have to admit that I bought The Artist’s Way in 2015. That was three years after I debuted, and I was in the thick of my 2 books and one novella a year schedule, plus had an energetic 8-year-old at home. The thought of spending time writing three pages every day of words that no one would ever see, words that didn’t “count” toward my daily quota, just seemed like an enormous waste of time.

So, I never even finished reading the book.

Fast forward to now and…well, I’m rethinking my stance. :)

I tried morning pages today, and the words flowed out without effort. Three pages were filled in no time and afterward, I felt better. My brain more in order.

Yes, I know in some ways, it’s just journaling with a different name, but it didn’t feel like that. Even when I try to journal, I feel myself crafting my words. Because I know, one day, Future Me will read it. I’m always writing for an audience.

But today, the morning pages didn’t feel that way. I truly let myself just write for the sake of writing. I didn’t make paragraph breaks. I didn’t pause to find the right word. I started with the weather (a cardinal sin in writing! lol) because that was easy. But then that led to much deeper topics I’d been thinking about.

A new experiment

So, in 2015, I wasn’t ready for Morning Pages, but maybe I am now. I’ve committed to trying this program. There are more components to it than just the morning pages. Artist’s dates. Walking. And a small daily word quota on whatever project you’re working on.

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If you’re interested in doing the program along with me, let me know in the comments. I recommend you grab a copy of the book¹ if you want to do it, though, because I’m only skimming the surface here. Also, though Julia Cameron talks about God in her books, I feel like you can take a secular angle with her approach without losing the point if you don’t want the religious part.

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But I think what appeals to me most about this process is that after you’ve been in publishing for a while, words start to feel very precious. They are what make you your living. Therefore, you should not waste them. Any words you write must move the needle. It’s what makes it hard to delete chapters or scenes. It’s what makes it hard to write something experimental just to see if it works. It’s what makes it harder to just play around with a format like flash fiction or a short story, especially if you’re a slower writer like I am.

I need to break free of that mindset. Words only feel scarce because I let the well run dry—or as Julia Cameron says, I overfished the well. But sometimes, the way to refill the well is by giving yourself words that are just for you. Words that don’t have to be pretty or perfect or even interesting. If nothing else, it can clear the mental pipes of the stuff that’s clogging up your thoughts.

Or that’s the theory anyway. :) This is an experiment after all, but I think there have been enough writers out there who have extolled the virtues of morning pages to make it a solid bet.

So, I will add this to the things I’m trying and report back.

Also, if you’re going to join me or if you’re already a lover of morning pages, let me know! Do you write words that are just for you?

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A few interesting links:

• I’m really digging Ezra Klein’s podcast after hearing his interview with Rick Rubin. This week I listened to his episode What a Poetic Mind Can Teach Us About How to Live, an interview with poet Jane Hirschfield and really loved the listen.

• I use the Day One app for my reading journal and a few other things (not the Morning Pages because I’m being a good girl and writing them longhand like I’m supposed to!) but Day One had a great post about all the different types of journaling you can do and some of these were new to me: 30 Journaling Ideas to Try in 2023

That’s all I have for you this week. Hope you have a great rest of the week!

Roni

1. All book links are Amazon affiliate links which means I earn a small commission if you purchase through the links