If you’ve only read a snippet of the book or maybe you haven’t read any of it at all, Writing Down the Bones is written by Natalie Goldberg and in it she talks about building your stamina as a writer, looking for progress and not perfection, and approaching the practice through Zen meditation. She emphasizes the importance of creative journaling and setting yourself free through your own writing. When I first saw this book, I was almost certain that it was going to say something about practicing writing every day. Every time you seek advice about writing from professionals or books or articles, they ultimately tell you the same thing- to write every day. Now, this book isn’t exactly different from those other books and articles, but I think the intention is a little different.
Although Natalie does advise you to write every day, she also wants you to eliminate your own personal critic, and this makes a lot of sense. Personally, I’m always in a battle with the backspace button. There have definitely been moments where the words to a short story or a poem or an article poured straight out of me, but there are other moments where I feel the need re-read what I write, and this causes some overthinking and frustration because I see comma splices and poorly chosen metaphors and not enough flowery language and blah blah blah. Filtering out your personal critic can allow the words to flow freely, and it can give you a sense of freedom. This cuts down on stress, and it keeps you motivated to write more. This is helpful advice, especially as a new writer because you gain that space you need to grow your craft.
Another topic that Natalie frequently touched on in the book was separating your ego from your writing practice. Matter of fact, she also explains how ego can directly affect your writing. This happens when your thoughts are being filtered and ultimately interrupted because you are anxious to accept criticism as a writer. Simply put, ego limits creativity. Natalie provides writing exercises that can decrease issues related to ego. An example of an ego decreasing exercise would be writing a vivid moment that relates to a memory or an experience. The important catch to this exercise is keeping all the raw and deltaic moments in the story and recognizing when you filter because of ego.
Zen meditation is another topic that Natalie explores throughout this novel. Natalie Goldburg is a Zen Buddhist, and she has implemented the practice of Zen meditation in her writing practice for a long time. Natalie views writing and Zen meditation as very closely related practices, both focusing on the mind and its relation to the present moment. She emphasizes that writing is like meditating and it involves a regular, consistent effort to become self-aware. Zen meditation has many pros to it as well. It decreases anxiety, creates a sense of mindfulness, and it allows us to explore our mind. But not just that, it can also allow us to form a different connection to writing. Honestly, I didn’t understand how Zen meditation could be related to writing because they are two completely different practices, but as I continued the book and she dived deeper into this concept, I learned that Zen meditation and writing are alike in that they both allow you to explore the mind’s inner landscape and to connect to yourself.
I enjoyed this book so much and I’ve taken much more than just writing tips from it. In it, you can also get a glimpse of Natalie’s life as a writer and how she got where she was. She talks about the good and bad parts of the writing life, and the struggles new writers face as they begin. I hear that her other book “Wild Mind” is another good one and I hope to check that out too.
I love hearing about your favorite parts of this book, I really enjoyed Writing Down the Bones as well and I found a lot of really good advice as well!