Writing Down the Bones
I am often asked to recommend books on writing, for both inspiration and the mechanics of the craft. I can do no better than to recommend Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg (Shambhala Press), a perennial top seller in the field. I first read this book in 1986, when it was initially published, and I still refer to it now and then as a jump-start to my writing day.
Author Goldberg's message is that the only rule in writing is that there are no rules, a philosophy I have embraced for years. She draws upon Zen meditation to tell us that the inspiration is within us all, that we simply have to keep the writing hand moving, to lose control, to not stop and think. Let it flow, is what she is saying to us as she encourages us to connect with our inner selves and to let those hidden selves run free.
At that time I was writing Green City In the Sun, an epic novel about the emergence of East Africa into the modern world, a story that spans three generations and two continents, rich in history and personal triumph and tragedy. I confess that there were times when I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew. At one point I lamented, "I can't do it!" A friend gave me a copy of Goldberg's book, and as I was reading it, I heard the author's voice quietly and firmly say to me, "You can do it." Through Writing Down the Bones, I learned to relax, to breathe, to let the ideas flow without judging them as they came to me, to let the writer within me handle things her way. Green City In the Sun got written and published, and it remains to this day a personal favorite.
Goldberg not only inspires and encourages, she offers writing tips. "Be specific," she says. "Don't say 'fruit.' Tell what kind of fruit - 'It is a pomegranate.' It is much better to say 'the geranium in the window' than 'the flower in the window.' 'Geranium' - that one word gives us a much more specific picture." (Even now, as I am writing Black Opal, an epic about Australia, I find myself recalling this good advice as I describe the flora and fauna of Tasmania.)
Writing Down the Bones is offered in short chapters (167 of them!) and Goldberg invites us to read them in any order. You can read straight through from Page One to the end, or skip around, smorgasbord-style. Look at the titles and see what tempts you: "Fighting Tofu," "The Power of Detail," and "What Are Your Deep Dreams?" My personal favorite is the chapter titled, "Trust Yourself" in which Goldberg admonishes us to believe in our writing. I have learned over the years that you can give your story or poem or novel to a hundred people and ask each for their opinion, and you will come back with a hundred very different responses: from "It stinks" to "It's Nobel material." The ultimate judgment, Goldberg suggests, comes from you, the author.
So if you are aspiring to be a published author, I suggest you put Writing Down the Bones at the top of your list.
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