Morning pages prompts
Morning pages don't have a topic. Some mornings, though, the blank page stares back for too long. A ready-made first line helps: not a subject to get right, just a nudge to get your hand moving.
Pick one line, copy it and keep going wherever it takes you. If two lines later you've drifted somewhere else entirely, that's the point.
New to the method? Start with the guide to morning pages.
For the morning
- I don't know where to start, so I'll start with…
- The first thing on my mind when I woke up was…
- What's spinning in my head right now is…
- This morning I feel…
- I dreamt about…
- What worries me most today is…
- If I did only one thing today, it would be…
- My body is telling me this morning that…
- Something I haven't told anyone yet…
- I don't feel like writing, because…
- I've been putting off…
- What do I actually need today, not what I should?
- Outside the window…
- What stayed with me from yesterday is…
- If nothing could go wrong today, I would…
- Lately I keep catching myself…
- Today it would make me happy to…
- I'm a little angry about…
- The thing that's been circling for days is…
- It's early and…
For the evening
In the evening it's the same idea in reverse: leave the day on the page instead of taking it to bed.
- Today in one sentence…
- The hardest moment of the day was when…
- A small thing that made me glad today…
- I'm leaving this on the page so I don't take it to bed…
- Today I'm letting go of…
- I don't know what to write, but the day was…
- Right now my body feels…
- Someone said something today that stayed with me…
- Tomorrow I want to remember…
- I'm tired because…
- Something I can be proud of today…
- If I could live today again…
A first-week series
One line for each day of your first week. Here the series hands them to you, one day at a time.
- I'm writing for the first time and I feel…
- Yesterday I wrote a few lines, and today my head is full of…
- Something I think about more than I'd like to admit is…
- When I wake up, the first thing I feel in my body is…
- Lately I've been irritated by…
- If I had a little more courage, I would…
- After a week of writing, I notice that…
Other series
Pro has longer series for specific moments. Each gives you one line a day:
| The decision I keep postponing | A week circling one question, with no pressure to answer it. First line: The decision I keep postponing is… |
| Unblock your creativity | Ten days on what you want to make and what holds you back. First line: As a child I loved making… |
| After a hard day | Evening pages for a week that weighs on you. First line: Today the hardest moment was when… |
How to use prompts
- Don't hunt for the perfect one. Take the first that doesn't make you resist.
- A prompt is only a start. You don't have to stay on topic.
- If none fits, write "I don't know what to write" and keep going. That works too.
In the app, the prompt waits, greyed out, on the blank page. Tab drops it in. Open a blank page →