22 Comments

Hi Amy. The timeline sounds great to me! I’m all set. Looking forward to it!

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Great! Thanks, Pam!

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Mar 29, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

Hi. The timeline works for me. The only thing that I am a bit concerned about is that the discussions will be out in the open but I will do my best as I like the fact that everything will be in one place.

I am ready to start. Thank you!

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I totally appreciate this, Marianne. That's partly why I wanted to lay it out this way and see how it looks. I considered the alternative (and what it requires of me). Let's see how week one goes. And, of course, public sharing is not required.

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I'm waiting on the book from my local library but I expect to have it by the weekend or early next week, so I'm ready! I also don't really have a writing project to work on, but I'm very open to the process and maybe I'll form an idea or find a path as I go through the process. Excited!

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As someone doing daily comics, you might find it works to have your quota related to that. "What" constitutes the quota is left entirely up to the individual. Don't worry about it - once you get the book, you'll see if mentioned in chapter one and can think about whether that has a place for you or not. Glad you'll be joining us!

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I think this sounds great. I will probably not be able to respond the last two weeks(?)(Maybe only the last week?) because we'll be traveling in Europe with extremely limited wi-fi/cell. I will take the book along, do morning pages, walks, writing, and touch base when I'm able.

In a bloop of synchronicity, I grabbed a comp book tonight (before seeing your email), and while I originally thought it was blank, it had a few pages used. One was list of six writing projects I've had in mind the past several years. 😮 I have at least 6 others that have been rattling around lately (so at least a dirty dozen to close from), but it was a great reminder.

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No worries on the timing. What I feel is most important is our own doing/reading/writing. Doing this "alongside others" offers something, I think. (I hope your travels are exciting - I am sure they will be inspiring!) The moment with the composition book you pulled sounds amazing.... a sign and message, for sure. Definitely sounds like the universe is smiling on this project for you in this moment!

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Hi Amy, all set and waiting to start. Thank you for setting up everything so clear for us. The daily quota was something that blocked me first. I think it is best to just let it be and go along with the book and our daily practice. Once in the creative process everything will flow and fall into pieces.

Let’s do this!

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Wonderful! So Week 1 is now underway - I hope you have fun restarting these practices and this reading. You are absolutely right to not let the quota stand in your way. It's only a small and very writer-focused portion of this book. I hope you enjoy the other aspects and the habits they invite.

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My morning pages routine has fallen off- this 6-week framework will be a good reboot. Reading chapter 1 now and look forward to the discussion here next week.

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Wonderful, Rachel! I'm sure you'll have a project to also be working on!

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Like other commenters, deciding on a manageable daily quota (AKA not overdoing it) and deciding on “the right” project for the daily quota ... with all the other creative aspirations and challenges I’m pursuing in parallel ... was hard to do. But I’m usually impatient enough to be decisive so I settled on focusing my daily quota writing on a story I’ve had in the hopper for a while; I’m just not going to obsess over what the final result will be (e.g. novel vs scene vs short story vs something else it might evolve into) and just write. This is just day one... when you open the week one comments officially I’ll update with my perceived momentum and quota progress :)

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Is there a set amount of time for the morning pages?

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No.... the way she structures it is that morning pages are defined by quantity: 3 hand-written pages. She suggests standard letter-size (or A4) paper. (The composition book is, of course, a bit smaller.) In general, free-writing (which this really is) is continuous.... even when you might not know what to say. So they don't technically take all that long. It will differ a bit for everyone, of course.

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Mar 30, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

This timeline works for me! Thanks so much for setting this up, Amy!

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Excellent, Teresa. Looking forward to it!

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I’m ready to do this, although I’ve been writing morning exercises on and off since 1992.

Because I have MS, I’ve always typed the pages. I don’t dictate. I just put a time stamp at the top and write fore 20 minutes.

A big plus: I can look back on what I’ve written. It’s instructive and I harvest ideas from it for the Substack. Cameron is wrong about destroying what you write.

I can’t walk very far but hope the weather is nice enough to take out my new power chair.

Bought the e-book (hate e-books!) and am ready to rock.

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Happy to have you joining in, Fran. I think (hope) we will all find something in this process. Even with a history of morning writing, recommitting to something for the span of weeks will add new focus. I know it has for me over the last many weeks as I've approached this practice with renewed intentionality.

Totally understand your reasons for typing. It is something I will talk about, too.

I encourage you to do the four things in whatever way you can - or not at all. If the Artist Date thing seems like a challenge, I encourage you to approach it as simply going to a new or different space to sit or watch.

Sorry you are not an e-book fan :) I know many who feel that way.

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Looking forward to reading along. Have had book for awhile but didn’t open. 😃

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this seems like a great plan. i am so looking forward to it.

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I got my book and read the 1st chapter. I'm planning to officially start week 1 tomorrow. I know morning pages are meant to be longhand but what about quota pages? Are you all planning to do those longhand as well or typed? I'm debating which makes more sense for me so I wondered what everyone else is thinking. Thanks!

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