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When you’re starting out as a writer, it’s not useful to dwell on your shortcomings.—Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is one of my favorite non-fiction writers, his book Outliers: The Story of Success had a significant impact on me as regards the 10,000 hours rule in particular. Since I read the book, I have been obsessed with becoming the hardest worker in the room.

Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer at the New Yorker, where he has worked since 1996. He is the author of five nonfiction books on sociology, psychology, social psychology: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009), David and Goliath (2015) and Talking To Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know (2019). All of his books have been New York Times bestsellers.

The Tipping Point has been named one of the best books of the decade by the A.V. Club and by the Guardian. In 2005, Time magazine named Gladwell one of the 100 most influential people in the world. David Leonhardt, in the New York Times Book Review, wrote that “Malcolm Gladwell is as close to a singular talent as exists today.” In a review of Gladwell’s popular podcast, Revisionist History.

The News & Observer wrote, “If there’s such a thing as a storytelling gene, Gladwell has some super-evolved DNA mutation. He might be the best storyteller on the planet.”

Here are my favourite takeaways from watching

Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.

I have been exploring journaling for a while now. I have been experimenting with different strategies such as Using the Five Minutes Journal, writing on a normal journal. I now would be using the morning pages journal as a way to explore my inner creativity.

Morning pages are three pages of writing done every day, typically encouraged to be in longhand, usually done in the morning, that can be about anything and everything that comes into your head. It involves getting everything all out of your head, and is not supposed to be censored or edited. The idea is that if you can get in the habit of writing three pages a day, that it will help clear your mind and get the ideas flowing for the rest of the day. 

The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal is a Companion Volume to the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. *There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages*– they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page…and then do three more pages tomorrow.

The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal Video by Julia Cameron.