Develop a consistent writing habit with this helpful practice tool.

We’ve heard practice makes perfect for most things in life, like cooking or sewing or picking up a new hobby. When the skill of writing and telling stories is still something writers need to practice regularly. Morning pages are one of my favorite ways to practice my skills daily.

Julia Cameron recommended morning pages in the first few pages of The Artist’s Way, a self-help course in discovering your creative self. Essentially, morning pages are an undisturbed stream of consciousness in the morning when you wake up. Cameron recommends three pages a day, but you can adjust your goal based on your needs.

Morning pages are a helpful tool in developing a consistent writing habit. This turns your brain into a creative tool to harness first thing in the morning, every morning. And if you’re sitting in your bed, groggy, thinking to yourself, “What am I going to write?” The answer is anything. Talk about what you’ll do today or the events that unfolded the day before. Create a daily journal for a character you created. You can write whatever you wish, because no one will see these stories you tell. For an added challenge, keep a handful of prompts close by for inspiration.

As you continue to write every day, you’ll see your writing skills develop and change for the better. Every skill deserves practice, and writing is one of them. You’ll be able to look back at the earlier days of your morning pages and see a difference in your style and syntax as you grow.

Because you’re an artist, you’re not expected to be perfect on the first try. Painters start with pencil lines and sculptors start with smaller molds before they make the big one. Committing yourself to practice and learn from writing every day is an excellent habit to keep up, and you’ll only thank yourself in the end.

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