Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within

Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within

The all-time best-selling writer's handbook turns thirty.With insight, humor, and practicality, Natalie Goldberg inspires writers and would-be writers to take the leap into writing skillfully and creatively. She offers suggestions, encouragement, and solid advice on many aspects of the writer's craft: on writing from "first thoughts" (keep your hand moving, don't cross out, just get it on paper), on listening (writing is ninety percent listening; the deeper you listen, the better you write), on using verbs (verbs provide the energy of the sentence), on overcoming doubts (doubt is torture; don't listen to it)-even on choosing a restaurant in which to write. Goldberg sees writing as a practice that helps writers comprehend the value of their lives. The advice in her book, provided in short, easy-to-read chapters with titles that reflect the author's witty approach ("Writing Is Not a McDonald's Hamburger," "Man Eats Car," "Be an Animal"), will inspire anyone who writes-or who longs to.Review"I'm convinced that none of the writers of my acquaintance can go another day without a copy of Natalie Goldberg's magical manualWriting Down the Bones."-Linda Weltner,The Boston Globe"The secret of creativity, Natalie Goldberg makes clear, is to subtract rules for writing, not add them. It's a process of 'uneducation' rather than education. Proof that she knows what she's talking about is abundant in her own sentences. They flow with speed and grace and accuracy and simplicity. It looks easy to a reader, but writers know it is the hardest writing of all."-Robert Pirsig, author ofZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance About the AuthorNATALIE GOLDBERG is the author of fourteen books, includingWriting Down the Bones, which has changed the way writing is taught in this country. She teaches retreats nationally and internationally. She lives in New Mexico.Excerpt.