Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Jason Koivu

Rating: really liked it
Bog-standard, cheerleader style writing advice: "You can do it!" In that way, it's quite similar to Ray Bradbury's book on writing. I preferred King's On Writing to both of these.

Michelle

Rating: really liked it
I've owned this book for six years. My copy is the pocket-size version. Its cover is wrapped in packing tape to slow the dog-earing.

The first time I read this book in college, and many times since, I carried it everywhere with me, reading it before classes, and over lunch in the dining hall. Natalie Goldberg's short, friendly chapters filled with spiritual and practical wisdom and stories made me feel as though a very warm and welcoming teacher had sat down across the table from me and struck up a conversation about writing and the writing life.

I have read some criticisms of this book, and all I can say is that for me, it works. If you are looking for a book of writing exercises, instructions on prosody or advice on how to revise, this isn't that book. If you don't want to hear about Zen Buddhism, this book is not for you.

What this book does for me is make me want to write again. It is very much comfort reading, something I can carry around in my purse, pull out at a bus stop and read any chapter, then look out at the world with eyes a little more open and a mind a little more clear. And most importantly, it makes me want to write.

Jenny (Reading Envy)

Rating: really liked it
I heard about this book a lot while doing Nanowrimo last year, and thought I'd read it. It's a little amusing, written in 1984, so pre-computer really. And some of her advice was pretty repetitive, but I did get some glimmers out of there.
"We walk through so many myths of each other and ourselves; we are so thankful when someone sees us for who we are and accepts us."

"You're never free unless you are doing your art."

"I write because to form a word with your lips and tongue or think a thing and then dare to write it down so you can never take it back is the most powerful thing I know."

"If you give yourself over to honesty in your practice, it will permeate your life.... Writing can teach us the dignity of speaking the truth, and it spreads out from the page into all of our life, and it should."

Gabriel

Rating: really liked it
For you poets out there, this book is for you.

For those of you meant to write memoirs and light happy stories about light happy things, this book is for you.

For those of you who want to write about things of no consequence that have some consequence - The Light Coming Through The Window, Your Favorite Meal, Blue - this book is for you too.

For those of us who are busy thinking of short stories, who are thinking of horror, who think of sf that may deal with harder topics, that think of things that may not be so happy and want to write those things down. For those of us who are dedicated to our short stories and don't want to think in poetical terms (unless, of course, you are an Artiste!), this book does not have as much for us as I had wished.

It's not for lack of trying. Indeed, the thrust of this book is to free the idea of what it means to write. Stuck in a section? Why don't you try dressing up as someone else and move to a different location and write there! Sentences too boring? Why don't you change word order and play with that punctuation!

And yet, for each one of these things that it brings up, I felt less and less like Natalie Goldberg was talking to me and more like she was talking to the Poet across town. She speaks in a language meant for the Burl Ives of this world. And, you know, kudos to them! We need those folk just as much as we need the David Lynches. But I hoped for a little more. I wanted something that forced me to write. Because (and this is why I was "reading" this book for the last 9 months) I wrote for 10 minutes after each chapter. I wanted something that would gear my writing and yet, for 90% of those writings, I was just meandering about a phrase that I wanted to argue about or some other thing.

I'm sure there are many out there who want to read this book, and if you fall into one of those lists from the start, you will get TONS from this book. Otherwise, maybe read [Book: Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life] by Anne Lamott instead?

Bonnie

Rating: really liked it
I picked up Writing Down the Bones when I was still teaching elementary school, and used ideas from it with my grades two to four students. My emphasis on these “10-minute writes” was on unedited (until later) free-writing. The rules were a condensed version of Natalie’s:
-Keep your hand moving
-Don’t cross out
-Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar
-Don’t think

I would set the timer, and on the word, “start”, pencils began moving, some faster than others. And of course I would be writing, too. Some students had no difficulty; others couldn’t let go. No matter; it wasn’t a competition. When the timer went off, I’d say, “Pencils down”, and pages were filed into their writing folders.

After doing a number of these exercises, when a student thought there might be a story to develop, the raw material of the “stream-of-consciousness” draft was used to expand on the idea, rewrite, and then edit. Eventually, each student improved in fluency and was able to create a “hard-cover” book. Some stories contained a line per page with an illustration. Others filled their book with writing, and the odd illustration. The “published” copy contained a picture of the author on the back, along with a short bio.

Quite a number of years later, I participated in a workshop facilitated by a friend and fan of Natalie Goldberg. Most of the exercises began with the words, “I remember….”

To this day I still use a pen and paper, instead of the computer, to begin a new chapter or scene, or if I get ‘stuck’ in the middle of one.

I would recommend this book for all writers, but especially for beginning writers. And for teachers who might want to incorporate this exercise into their writing curriculum. As the title suggests, “Writing Down the Bones” is actually “Freeing the writer within.” This is a book, not about the revision required for all “published” writing, but about generating and recording the essential ideas in the first place.

Heather

Rating: really liked it
Okay, this book is amazing. I feel that this will be one of those books that never stays on my bookshelf. I will too often be taking it down to read bits and pieces. Very inspiring.

Jenny

Rating: really liked it
This is a great starting-point aspiring-writer's book, terrific for getting the creative juices flowing. I have used Natalie Goldberg's techniques both as a writer and as a writing teacher. Eventually, if you want to write Things That Other People Want to Read and not just Things That Are Good to Write, you need to work on the less free-spirited, less blue-sky, and occasionally less exciting stuff: structure, pacing, whittling away extraneous words. You need to learn to *re*write, to do something with the "bones" you've flung onto the page. This book won't take you there, but it opens up the first important part of the writing process, of accessing imagination and getting words on the page.

It's worth mentioning that Goldberg uses writing as a Zen Buddhist practice, like meditation, and in that context it's the writing itself, not the end product, that is important anyway.

Nicky

Rating: really liked it
Reading Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott struck me as reading two very similar books from two distinct voices. Writing Down The Bones is a personal reflection on the craft and what works for Goldberg and might work for you. It's easy to digest, coming in short chapters, and it really does make you think about what you write, how you sit down to work, whether you're really dedicated to writing. The allusions to Buddhism and Judaism and how they affect her writing are also interesting. Some of her advice seems contradictory, but really it's just that it comes from different places in the process. Some of it is the average advice you get from all writers -- keep a notebook, take it everywhere, write in it every day, just as an example -- but coupled with her experience of doing that.

I felt like it was a little bit repetitive and it didn't focus much on what to do with the writing once you've done it, but it was still worth reading.

Julie G

Rating: really liked it
It took my ego fifteen years to crack open Stephen King's memoir, On Writing. When I finally did, I was transformed. How could his writing process be so similar to mine? Why do he and I have the same strange thoughts?

The deep connection to that book led me to rethink this book, Writing Down the Bones, that has sat, barely touched, upon my night stand for nearly a decade.

I have come to realize, through these two excellent books, that it's good to journey outside of your powerfully resistant ego and your own short-sightedness when it comes to seeking help. It's not even about "help." Natalie Goldberg wants you to remember that, if you are provoked to write, it's for a reason, and the only way to set yourself free is to validate your expression by working at it, daily.

Whether you're a veteran or a novice, you need this book.

Laurie

Rating: really liked it
This book changed my life as a writer, a teacher of writing, and as an individual!

I use this book currently in my high school Creative Writing I class. I read chapters to the students; we talk about what they might mean, and how the advice given could change their writing. I wasn't sure if this approach would be successful with high school age students, but within weeks I have seen more free writing, more stream of consciousness writing, and more unedited writing than ever before! My students are enjoying the drafting and brainstorming stages of writing because they seem to be less intimidating. If they don't know what to write, they free write until an idea comes to mind!

Thanks Natalie!

Tim Dudek

Rating: really liked it
Having heard great praise for this book from several people I respect I had high hopes. Like many, I found it lacking. Golberg wrote a book not about writing but about using Zen to overcoming self doubt. I am sure this could be quite helpful to many prospective writers. Judging by the many positive reviews this is the case. And to those of you I say, “More power to ya”. I rarely wallow in self doubt of my writing ability. I fail to write not because I am afraid, but because I am lazy and easily distracted.
Natalie Goldberg spends most of the short chapters in this short book talking about her Zen teacher and about embracing irrationality. Maybe this technique helps poets but it seems unhelpful to prose writers. She highlights this in one chapter where she lists several poems. They are a gibberish and incoherent jumble of unconnected words.
I did glean two actual pieces of practical advice from this fifteen dollar book. First, write a lot. This should not shock anyone since this every book, article, and seminar about writing contains the same advice. I found the second idea far more helpful. We need to separate the writer in us from the editor. Put simply, don’t edit your work as you are writing. Just get the words on the page. Don’t like something in that sentence? Ignore it and just keep writing. Come back later and edit it.
There I’ve given you the two things you will actually get from this book and just saved you fifteen dollars.

J. Sebastian

Rating: really liked it
This is an encouraging and motivating little volume, filled with an assortment of anecdotes, advice, and exercises for writing practice; it is a good way to get into the habit of writing. It has, however, one of the ugliest book covers I have ever seen.

Writing Down the Bones promotes a Zen-like writing practice, in which no errors are possible, provided that one be present and continue to write. Goldberg gives the student permission to write badly, and creates a liberating safe-space that helps a lot of students find the courage to write, and eventually to discover that they have something valuable within them.

Caro the Helmet Lady

Rating: really liked it
It was interesting and made sense, but just not really my thing. Too much of Zen and Buddhism and it's not like I'm against it or something, but it's just not what I expected from this book, I guess. Might come back to it someday, though.

Anne Ku

Rating: really liked it
I went to a Writing Group in the Hague today for the first time. Seeing the half-read paperback "Writing Down the Bones" on someone's table made me curious as I had heard of it before.

I simply couldn't put it down.

So I negotiated with the owner of the book, the friend who introduced me to the writing group, to swap the book I was reading (something about taking back your life, another self-help book I was half-way through and wanted to finish and give away because there were too many of such books on my shelf and repertoire) -- for her book to finish reading by tomorrow.

I read Goldberg's bestseller on the steps next to the famous Dr Anton Philipzaal (concert hall) after a much-needed salt-and-pepper squid and rice take-out meal. I continued reading it on the train back to Utrecht, hoping the train ride would not end.

As soon as I got home, I sat in the garden in the setting northern European sun, anxious to digest the remaining pearls of wisdom before the sun disappeared from the roof tops of the monument houses.

I finished the book in less than a day.

I guess I was desperate.

I had not read a book about writing in a long time. I had loads to write, but I could not even do the "free writing" of today's writing session, only jotting down bullet points and ideas from my head, flushing out the burden of responsibility to write reviews and more. I had not kept a journal for more than a year. I was stuck.

Reading Natalie Goldberg's book freed the writer within me.

J.F. Penn

Rating: really liked it
I read this book again every few years. I love it. It takes me back to the fundamentals of writing & gives me pages of notes , thoughts, lines of poetry & my own inspiration and memory. A must for all writers.