The morning pages are an exercise in meditation that asks artists to sit down and dump what it’s in their head onto the page consistently every morning without judgment. The morning pages aren’t intended to be an act of art or creative writing. Instead, they are a personal space to meditate on the page and get all the stuck thoughts on paper. This is a space to free the mind from its censor. The goal is to move beyond creative blocks and build a mindfulness routine. The morning pages are first detailed in “The Basic Tools” chapter, and they are mentioned throughout the book, especially in terms of anticipating the challenges and breakthroughs writers might have as a result of working on them. For many students, the morning pages tend to be a main area of resistance, as noted in anecdotes throughout the book, but by the end creatives note how valuable they are in practice because those pages help center their minds and build a routine related to creativity.

The artist date is a weekly commitment to designated play time. Essentially, the artist takes themselves on a date to do something fun and inspiring, and it should be done alone.