Customer Reviews

Writing Down the Bones

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

I'm told this is a book Stephen King likes to read, when he's feeling 'blocked.' There are a lot of different reasons for writing things, but when you get down to it, most writers do it because they have to, regardless of the other rewards it may bring. Writing Down the Bones approaches writing from this point of view, seeing it as the way to personal health and growth.
When you need to be reminded of why you're writing, there are many good ideas here. But if you're looking for a 'how to' guide, this book will seem almost unfathomable.

I read this book, expecting something closer, perhaps, to Julia Cameron's "Artist's Way". It really wasn't what I expected at all. Later books that Goldberg wrote after this one, such as Wild Life, were much better. One good bit of advice was actually doing your daily pages with a 'fast' pen, such as a fountain pen. I have to admit, that did help me quite a bit, if only just to assist with easing carpal tunnel! Although where she was getting fountain pens for a mere [price] is a mystery to me! The adage to just keep writing is about as useful as it gets in this book.

Natalie Goldberg apparently has two loves in life: Zen and Writing. She loves both equally. So she probably had a hard time deciding whether to write a book on Zen or a book on writing. She took the easy way out. She wrote a book that had both. And oh how it shows! Seems like almost every chapter she'll have a sentence that starts with "Katagiri Roshi said, . . .", as if I care what her Zen teacher had to say. I also remember her telling us to "use a writing utensil that is comfortable"--or something very similar. Now what person doesn't know that?! A waste of words, if you ask me. In my opinion, one should be VERY skeptical about a writer who has more "how-to-write" books than they do novels. If she really knew what she was talking about, don't you think she'd take her own advice and use it to start cranking out that bestseller that's been in her head for so long? If your kid wanted to play baseball, who would you rather have teach him: a person who WRITES about baseball and plays occasionally on weekends OR someone who PLAYS baseball nearly every day of the week? Same thing goes for writing. Now, if you want to read two good writing books, read ON WRITING by Stephen King and THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by STRUNK AND WHITE. As Stephen King will tell you, you're either born a competent writer, or you're not--and one who is not born a writer won't make it. But perhaps the BEST advice that anyone can give a writer is this quote from Epictetus: "IF YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER, WRITE!"

Sometimes the unexpected comes as a good surprise - sometimes not! This was a not.

Natalie Goldberg (whose writing is unquestionably good) has knocked together a few pointers in a book the size of a postage stamp and released it under a major publicity blitz. Many of the so-called wisdoms in the book seem to center on meditaion which, if it works for her, is fine. Unfortunately most of us have our feet firmly on terra firma.

Some of the ideas she raises are credible and helpful but, to comfortably use this book, you'd need to be a minature person with very small hands! Most of the time, it fell out of my fingers and I dropped off to sleep.

Ms. Goldberg takes us through the easy answers about how to avoid bad writing and gets right down to the bones. She clearly lays the groundwork for soulful, insightful writing that will captivate your readers. But it's hard work. Natalie doesn't let us shirk. That she is a worthy mentor is abundantly clear as you read her book. Her sentences are clear and easy to read, yet flow smoothly on leading you through the story and her thoughts. In true Zen fashion, we learn that the secret to great writing is subtracting rules for writing, not adding them. It is not easy to teach us, or anyone else, to unlearn what we've worked so hard to acquire. But Natalie's Zen training comes to her aid and she shares her insights with us in this excellent book on writing.

Like Anne Lamott,Natalie Goldberg makes you feel right at home. Reading this book is like talking to an old, reliable friend who won't let you down. I found her advice about writing anywhere and writing when you just plain don't feel like invaluable. She also deals with spontanaiety and the idea of "first thoughts" well.However, I think she understates the importance of technique, structure and plot. This book is a good starting point for beginners, but I would supplement it with other books that contain a variety of specific, focused exercises.

Who does not know Natalie Goldberg? Well if you don't try to read this one! A jewel of intimacy with the writer within all of us!