On Writing Badly Every Morning
Three pages before breakfast, and permission to make them terrible.
Nora Ellis7 min read
THIS WEEK’S ESSAY
Every morning I write three pages before breakfast, and most of them are bad. That is the point. The morning pages are where I clear my throat, so the real sentence can come out later — usually in the afternoon, usually on a walk, usually when I have stopped trying.
If you want to write, give yourself permission to write badly first. The good sentences are shy. They come out when they know nobody is grading them.
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