In threes

The Julia Cameron memoir continues to grip and inspire me. How often does one get that combination?

One thing I am particularly fascinated with in the book involves the writing process. After getting sober, she was scared of losing her writing identity. So among the support she received in recovery was this advice: write three pages a day. That's the quota. If it takes all day or if it takes an hour. It was also suggested that she let the words come through her, channel through her.

She was dubious about all of it but did it anyway. And it worked: I wasn't so much writing as I was eavesdropping. I wasn't so much thinking something up as taking something down.

Since I often have fits and starts in my writing, I decided to give this a try. Three pages a day. In longhand. (Incidentally, this is not to be confused with Cameron's other device, morning pages. That is three pages of stream of consciousness writing done every morning. It is actually more meditation than writing. I already do those.) Anyway, this evening I went to the waterfront with a spiral notebook and a pen and sat on a bench. I began writing at 7 p.m., a moment heralded by the nearby church bell. By 7:25 p.m., three pages had poured off my pen like water from a pitcher.

Yep, I think I might like this.