A typewritten alternative to Morning Pages

I've been following Julia Cameron's creative recovery program for the past seven weeks, for which the practice of writing Morning Pages is absolutely essential. Although I’ve been journaling regularly, I've recently felt like I’m failing at Morning Pages, rushing through them in the morning and not being introspective enough.

There’s another approach to writing that is working for me lately and is a practice that I once followed nearly two years ago: Morning Pages typed on a typewriter. I still journal first thing in the morning when I get up if there’s anything I feel like I have to note down. But my main writing session happens after breakfast when I’m ready to get to work. It is then that I put my typewriter on my desk and type an entire single-spaced A4 page of text until I run out of space. Although Cameron recommends to write three pages by hand first thing in the morning, when it comes to maintaining the practice of daily journaling, I believe that it has to work for you.

That is why I want stick to my new/old routine because it has the exact effect that Julia Cameron promotes through Morning Pages. Filing up a page on a typewriter is often difficult and more time consuming but it is very much what Cameron advocates, that is writing extensively in order to get to the core of feelings and find answers. Forcing myself to write for extended period of time before I begin my day guides the rest of my day and allows me for confronting any frustrations, anxieties, desires, or just how I feel physically each day. The longer form requires writing what you really think, without filtering it, without searching for the right words, simply being honest. And on my darkest days, seeing the completed page feels like a very needed accomplishment. In addition, there is something about typing that makes me feel as if I am moving and straining not only my intellect, but also my entire body, hands, and fingers.