Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within,   ISBN:9781590302613

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This is a writing motivator to which I keep returning - and until I finally commit my life and TIME to writing, I will keep listening to Natalie urge me to put my life to the written word. This is THE collection that you need to overcome writer's "cramp" (MY word), or the dreaded BLOCK. Love the words about he geraniums - I had one when I was a freshman in a bleak, shared domitory room, and it brought back reminiscences that I can add to my list of writing topics.
Don't miss this special collection, especially now that it's on CD's.
Now if only someone would render a product that avails the TIME to write... now that would be worthy of purchase.

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This book consists of a series of very brief (generally less than 3-4 pages) chapters, each of which tells a little story about writing. After about 10-15 of them, however, I felt that I wasn't reading anything new. It was the same thought, "just write," told in many different ways. Therefore, I would rate it highly for its message, but my average rating is due to its being overly repetitious.

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Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg is not so much a primer on writing well but writing truthfully. The book's mantra seems to be "follow your mind; see where it goes." A prospective reader should understand that the book is only about writing in general and thus offers little advice on literary form such as novels, short stories, essays, or poetry. Goldberg's book is about writing and becoming into an artist (which I infer means someone who communicates their human experiences). Thus the book is very different from the usual books about writing which mostly discuss form and aesthetics. So the choice is a matter of what appeals to you currently as a writer: are you more interested in aesthetics or are you interested in plundering the depths of your soul. If you have already done the latter by constant self analysis (like me!), you might wish to skip this book (it's still interesting to read).

Goldberg suggests an interesting method. She asks you to practice writing. This allows you to simultaneously cultivate all aspects of your writing without the stress of having to produce a masterpiece. I was recently reading Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers which suggests that putting in the time into a given activity is the most important aspect to success. For example, he claims that the Beatles became good because they spent thousands of hours working anonymously in a club. So I guess her advice jives with his opinion. But it seems that writing practice can be frightening and stressful too. Her advice: just do it. To be fair, what else could she say? Don't be afraid. The advice is as obvious as Gladwell's Outliers but its amazing how many people don't really know it.

The book is an interesting read. It's one approach to writing. I have to say that while I am not going to be following much of the advice (not yet) the book made for interesting reading. That Goldberg is in love with the mind and imagination is abundantly clear. Her mind goes places I wouldn't want mine to (i.e. 1 + 1 = Mercedes Benz). The downside is that if you are looking for a particular answer for your craft, this book will not supply it. Writing Down the Bones is rather bit out there in term of its approach to writing. But it's still a valid method. Writing as Meditation.

Note: Several reviewers have claimed that she is trying to convert people to Zen Buddhism. I don't think she is. She mentions her guru a lot though so if that kind of thing annoys you, its best to steer clear of the book. The central idea of the book is writing as meditation so this shouldn't be surprising.

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When I first saw this book title, I thought, "What's that about? Will it help me to transition from jounalistic writing to writing that non-fiction book that's been in me for many years?"

And, as I started to read this book, I had mixed thoughts that went from, "Wow! This is great," to "Yeah! I already do lists. That's how I began writing on a journalistic basis."

And, once I let go of those thoughts and trusted Natalie Goldberg's messages, I found myself comparing what it took for me to go from many years of introspective writing, to my writing for publications, then restaurant and book reviews.

Fundamentally, the unspoken, subconscious rules were the same. I started out many years ago writing to find answers that family members and others around me couldn't help me with. I wanted to know my life's purpose, how to fully process emotions that I blocked, and how to replace my family of origin's identity to the identity that I am meant to embrace.

As I joyfully wrote about this, for from 1989 to 1999, I was able to envision myself as more capable, more empowered and more connected to a varity of people.

To this day, I still say, "My introspective journals from 1989 to this day are my most valuable possession."

By February 1999, when I discovered my life's purpose, through writing and being around family, I also decided to tell my story, through telling the story of other people.

For each story, I had six questions to ask. These questions come from the book titled, "How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Jerome Adler, Charles Lincoln Van Doren. In Adler and Van Doren's book, there is an assumption that you know how to read, but that you are ready to get more from your author.

This book guides readers on reading every type of reading material: newspapers, biographies, math, science, literature, poems, and much more.


In adddition to this tool that allowed me to become a more demanding reader, I also had an on-going list, with a header, "Somebody Really Oughta." And, while this header came from another author, it inspired me to list community, social, political and other problems that I felt needed to be explored.

This led to hundreds, if not thousands of articles, with my byline.

And, in 2002, when I first interviewed several "New York Times Best-Selling" authors, I asked about their writing process, and about what it took to be a book author. Their answers, while interesting, didn't inspire me to say, "Yeah. Let me go do that," because as I realized, to be a non-fiction book author, published by a big publishing firm, there is so much more than writing. There is the business aspect of it all.

My excuses over the years were, "I can't take the time to do that. I have a business to run now. They won't pay me until they approve of a book proposal, which means I have to invest a great deal of my time to get to that point."

And, as I read these comments from my own journal, years after the fact, and while reading "Writing Down the Bones," I decided, "I have been writing all of this time. And, I am overdue to get that book out. Writing a non-fiction book is my next step in my making a difference."

"Writing Down the Bones" does free the writer within to go deeper, to paint a picture that allows readers to feel, touch, and grow.

I am now well into writing that non-fiction book proposal, and my sample chapters.

Customer Rating: 

Although Natalie is a professional writer and makes her living writing books, at her core she is a writer who understands the sheer bliss that comes from putting words on paper. Her books are ones that I periodically put away only to find months later when I'm really in need of a reminder that there is more to the writing life than paying the bills.

It always amazes me how when I pick up her books and flip through them I find the exact perfect thing that I needed at the time. When I flipped through Writing Down the Bones tonight, I found her advice on getting outside of yourself with different props to alter your perspective on the world. That was very valuable advice as I often get into a writing rut and keep dipping my pen into the same well of ideas.

There will always be room my bookshelf for "Writing Down the Bones."