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From School Library Journal
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
May be helpful for you, but useless for me.,
By
This review is from: Writing Down the Bones (Paperback)
I turned to this book when I had the idea for my first novel, thinking it would help inspire my creativity and get my story from my brain to the page. Rather than offering practical advice, I found the book romanticized the process. At the time I read it, I was looking for a guide similar to Vicki King's How to Write a Movie in 21 Days (except for novel writing). I have yet to find that sort of a book, but I just completed the first draft of my novel mostly on the advice from Stephen King's On Writing, and a few select parts of Jack Bickham's work. If you actually want to get some work done, read the aforementioned books. If you would rather read about writing (or are looking for advice like, "Try writing at a coffee shop"), then you might try this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Writing Never Has Been More Nutritous,
By
This review is from: Writing Down the Bones (Paperback)
Many of you might be familiar with Katagiri Roshi, whom Natalie Goldberg studied under for several years in Minnesota. Katagiri Roshi always encouraged her to take up writing, and somewhat as a result this book came into being. The book discusses how very insightful our own writings can be; they can even unlock previously misunderstood teachings to us in amazing ways. Reading helps us progress in our own writing, a point Natalie touches on as a key to good spiritual writing. Reading helps cultivate new ideas and unexplored territory which we can delve deeper into with our own pen and pad. This book is essentially the art of writing, Zen style. Enjoy it!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Mixed Bag of Bones,
By
This review is from: Writing Down the Bones (Pocket Classics) (Paperback)
I align myself more with the negative reviews of this book. It's easy to get caught up in some of the philosophical warm-fuzzy rhetoric of Ms. Goldberg. Akin to watching Oprah pull at an audience's heartstrings, Ms. Goldberg pulls readers in with story after story trumpeting the same message of writing from the heart. The initial reaction is to feel that there's nothing to question about what Ms. Goldberg says.When I purchased the book, I saw nothing to indicate that it was specific to one particular form of writing, but after reading it, I feel that the author speaks much more to poetry than other forms of writing. The author on several occasions admonishes us to write in the moment and not dwell on ideas we've had in the past. She relates an experience of one student who had a fully-formed idea while out jogging but couldn't reproduce it when s/he got home to the blank page. Goldberg went into a spiel about how we should just let go of those thoughts that are not inspired or conceived in the moment that we sit down to write. That's where I have a fundamental disagreement with her and feel her philosophy becomes almost destructive to new writers. Perhaps poetry functions that way. Perhaps someone has to have that spontaneous quality about their work in order for it to be fresh and exciting. I don't know. I'm not a poet. However, for novels, short stories, and longer works, you would be a fool to let great ideas get away. Personally, I like to let some of those ideas percolate for weeks and even years. Yes, we mature and our perspectives change, but in a lot of cases that only means that we can approach a subject in a different way as we grow older. It doesn't make the subject any better or worse to write about. Bottom line: I came away from the book with mixed feelings. In my opinion she crossed over the line of reason too often in the book to put forth her spiritual views. It was like a one day seminar that gets you pumped up, but then you get home and review your notes, and realize, sadly, that it was mainly hype with very little substance. I can summarize her tome with three bullet points: Be true to thine ownself. Always observe the world around you. Make writing a habit in your life.
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