Writer’s Bookshelf: Writing Down the Bones

If you only ever want to invest in one book by a writer on writing, get Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. She links writing to Zen, and her approach to good writing is this: get lots of writing practice. She offers lots of useful tips so readers will find it easy to heed her advice and practice, practice, practice.

I have the Shambala Pocket Classics edition which is about the size of my iPhone, only thicker. And just as the iPhone, I carry the book around with me at all times. The chapters are short. That’s a good thing, as they are so full of inspirational thoughts that it is more than likely they’ll leave me brimming with ideas I need to jot down.

According to Goldberg, writing practice turns talent into good writing eventually. Before you get to the good bits, you have to write lots of junk, though, she says. I really hope the NaNoWriMo people get her to write a pep talk soon, she’d be perfect for the job.