Morning Pages
Morning Pages
Part 1: What Are They?
Morning pages are raw, unfiltered, spontaneous writing you do before trying to write your actual essay.
They should bypass the voice in your head that says, "This isn't impressive enough," or "They don't want to hear this."
They let you dump out your real thoughts and feelings before your inner censor kicks in. They let you migrate away from your "performative" self.
So, when you are writing morning pages, you are writing (simply) for yourself.
Not for a college admissions office. Not for your mentor.
When ideas stay in your head, they remain fuzzy, half-formed, protected by the fog of intention. Writing forces those fuzzy thoughts into clarity. You think you know what you believe, but you haven't tested it.
Morning pages make you answer these questions before you're trying to impress anyone. They're thinking made visible: messy, honest, unpolished thinking that reveals what you actually care about beneath the performance.
Most students skip this step.
They sit down to write their essay and immediately start performing: reaching for words that sound smart, ideas that seem impressive, stories that feel "college-worthy."
But performance blocks discovery. You can't find your authentic voice while trying to sound like someone else.
Morning pages separate these two processes.
First, you think. Then, you write for an audience.
The goal of a morning page is to figure out what you actually think and feel.
Part 2: How to Do Them
Open a blank document. Set a timer for 15, 30, or 45 minutes. Write about your prompt or topic. Don't edit. Don't judge. Don't worry about grammar or whether it's "good enough."
Just write.
Write the messy version first. Write about the thing that actually changed you, even if it seems small. Write about the moment you felt something shift. Write about what you're afraid to admit.
And if you have nothing to write, write "I have nothing to write" till something comes out.
After You Finish
Read what you wrote. Circle the parts that feel paradoxical, contradictive, or surprising.
That's your gold.
That's your authentic self. That's the real you that others would find interesting.
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