Want to become a better storyteller?

Write every day.

Sounds easy, right?

WRONG.

Despite it being one of my very favourite things to do, I’ve always let creative writing fall to the bottom of my to-do list – after feeding the kids, after doing exercise, after running a business and delivering to client deadlines… and yes, after scrolling Instagram while binging Netflix (IKYK).

So how do you instill writing as a daily practice? Here are two techniques:

1. Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages

You wake up each morning, and before you do anything else, you grab a notebook and fill three pages with whatever comes into your head. It could be ramblings from your dreams, it could be your to-do list. Just fill three pages. It acts like a palette cleanser; clearing the way for creativity.

I love Julia Cameron. I find her so inspiring. I love everything she has to say.

I don’t love Morning Pages.

For me, this just doesn’t work. With two small kids, every moment of sleep is precious. I’m already waking up before dawn to sneak out of the house to exercise. To get up any earlier would mean sacrificing even more sleep, and risk waking the rest of the family and having those Pages interrupted with having to wipe a bottom or find a slipper. As much as I’d love to do these Pages, at this stage of my life, it’s not happening.

2. Matthew Dick’s Homework For Life

Here’s how it works:

Once a day, you write down a sentence of a story that has happened that day. You don’t write the whole story, you just write down something that happened – a few words that might jog your memory about that moment or thing that happened. You have to do it every day.

And over time, you start to train your brain to see stories. To recognise them for what they are. You also get the added benefits of remembering treasured moments. So time slows down.

It takes 5 minutes. 5 minutes I can do.

This is my daily practice, and I’m already seeing the benefits.

Have you tried either of the above techniques? Which one works for you?

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