Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

I read this years ago when I thought I'd try writing, now I realize it's applicable to anything I do. Great to visit with an old friend again.

Though this is a more positive and well-written book than Anne Lamott's almost malevolent Bird by Bird (which I'm still annoyed I read), I came away with the same net result: learning very little and feeling like these autobiographical, write-your-feelings, self-help author-gurus are the most annoying people alive. Spare me the poetry exercises about your childhood and write about shit that rocks, like a haunted car that tries to kill you or something.

Writing Down the Bones is OK for bite-sized nuggets of insight. There are some genuinely heartwarming and thought-provoking bits that made me contemplate a third star. But there's a whole lot of motivational platitudes and navel-gazing waffle to get through to reach the material of substance - the actually interesting parts about craft and practical process. It didn't leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, but it didn't leave me with much of anything, really.

Dnf 56% very new age self help

“If they knock you down, you get up. If they knock you down again, get up. No matter how many times they knock you down, get up again.”

“Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.”

“Writing needs raw truth, wants your suffering and darkness ... revels in a cutting mind that takes no prisoners....”

“There is freedom in being a writer and writing. It is fulfilling your function. I used to think freedom meant doing whatever you want. It means knowing who you are, what you are supposed to be doing on this earth, and then simply doing it.”

Encore un livre sur l'écriture qui ne m'a pas totalement convaincu, mais j'aurais pu m'y attendre dans ce cas précis. Je savais que l'approche très spirituelle et “zen” de son autrice n'est pas forcément la mienne. Il y a tout de même quelques éléments intéressants dans les nombreux et courts chapitres de ce livre, mais ils sont souvent perdus au milieu d'anecdotes personnelles et de digressions plus ou moins intéressantes.

“You're a writer? Don't you just love Writing Down the Bones?”

This is one of those books that people just assume you've read when you have an MFA in writing. I had heard quite a bit about it, but I hadn't actually read it until now. But since this book has clearly been highly praised and circulated within the writing community since the 1980s, it's no surprise that I've come across so much of Goldberg's sage advice throughout the years.

The problem with a book like this is that I have heard it all before. It's a testament to what Goldberg had to say on the subject of writing, but my mind was certainly not blown by reading this. And so I'm not sure if my overall lack of love for this book is indicative of an overpraised lackluster book, or a wonderfully brilliant book that has been dulled by its successors. Frankly, I think it is both.

Some of Goldberg's ideas are golden. She's very much into the “let go” mentality of writing. She has really great advice for how to achieve this. Many of her thoughts on mindfulness are the words I have heard and appreciated over and again. But when you look at the whole of this book, you find that that really is the summation of the author's advice. Sure, she has a small exercise here and a tidbit of non-zen based advice there, but so much of this book is about writing mindfully. Writing mindfully is exactly what I need, but reading this book thirty-two years after its original publication, it is mostly stuff I've heard before.

Writing Down the Bones is excellent for the beginning writer or the writer who wants to approach their work more naturally. It should probably be required reading in undergrad writing programs. But for a broader, more modern perspective of the writing craft or for solid inspiration, I'd look elsewhere. Personally, I loved McCann's Letters to a Young Writer. It's a slim volume and McCann surely will not teach you “everything you need to know about writing” or even come close to doing so, but it features a great mix of topics that are 100% inspiring (though many of those ideas were probably inspired by Goldberg's book).

I felt this was a bit slow, but I'm glad I kept with it. The second half is much better, or at least it spoke to me more. I probably would have liked it more, and given it a higher rating, if I hadn't just read Bird By Bird right before this.

If you're interesting in writing, it's a definite “should read”.

This was a great inspiration for my writing. While not all of Natalie Goldberg's techniques match my own, it's always interesting to read other authors' point of view on the writing process. I did learn some new tools for writing through reading Goldberg which was my goal. I encourage writers to read this book. She has a way with words that makes it easy to absorb.

I had to laugh when I typed the title of this book into Goodreads to write my review, only to discover my previous review from 2008 - a measly two stars! I distinctly remember reading this at twenty eight, enchanted by Goldberg's fusion of Zen Buddhism and writing reference but frustrated that it wasn't the clearly laid out roadmap to writing success that I had been looking for; annoyed at the earnestness of it, and scoffing at Goldberg's suggestion that learning to be a good writer is not a linear process. Oh how things change. Straight into my top five for the year.

The 30th anniversary edition is wonderful, with additional content from Goldberg after each chapter discussing her thoughts at the time of writing the original manuscript and how her practice has or hasn't changed in the years since. And of course, the core message of the book remains the same: we learn writing by doing it. That simple. So write.

Make this a significant part of your writing toolkit. Worth the work to use in building your writing skills. There's a reason this has a 25th anniversary edition. It remains relevant.

There is nothing like rereading an old favorite. This time, I listened to this book on audio. The author read each chapter, and then popped back in to comment with thoughts about her book, from a distance of twenty-five years after the book was originally published.

If you can only read a few books on writing, let this be one of them.

THIRD READ THOUGHTS

Writing Down the Bones is my go-to book about writing. Whenever I need a little motivation, I pull out this book and reread a chapter or two.

Writing Down the Bones shares the idea of writing as a practice. Author Natalie Goldberg has six rules for writing practice:

1. Keep your hand moving. (Don't pause to reread the line you have just written. That's stalling and trying to get control of what you're saying.)
2. Don't cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn't mean to write, leave it.)
3. Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don't even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.)
4. Lose control.
5. Don't think. Don't get logical.
6. Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.)

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Shambhala Library) . Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.

I keep these rules close to me when I do my writing practice.

There is a lot more wisdom in the book.

Katagiri Roshi said: “Your little will can't do anything. It takes Great Determination. Great Determination doesn't mean just you making an effort. It means the whole universe is behind you and with you—the birds, trees, sky, moon, and ten directions.” Suddenly, after much composting, you are in alignment with the stars or the moment or the dining-room chandelier above your head, and your body opens and speaks.

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Shambhala Library) . Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.

Basically, if you want to become a good writer, you need to do three things. Read a lot, listen well and deeply, and write a lot. And don't think too much. Just enter the heat of words and sounds and colored sensations and keep your pen moving across the page.

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Shambhala Library) . Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.

This is an essential book for writers. So glad I read it.