Friday, January 27, 2023

The Surprising Benefits of "Download" Writing Every Day

At a gathering this past week, a friend was talking up Morning Pages, the stream-of-consciousness writing activity proposed by Julia Cameron in her Artist's Way books. My friend recently rediscovered the benefit of them to her art.

"It's basically an effective download," she said. "I don't much care what I write; it's the act of cleaning out that makes a difference when I sit down to write, later."

Life is hectic for her. She can get so overwhelmed, "bottled up inside" from news chaos or family trauma or her satisfying but all-consuming job. She gets up early to get in those daily pages. They empty the detritus from mind and emotions, let her process stuff that ultimately distracts from work on her book.