Cori-Beth's Books

I first purchased Writing Down the Bones way back when I worked in a collage bookstore in my hometown. I had picked it up at first and flipped through it when business was slow, it was a small campus, and found it fascinating. I had wanted to be a writer since I was young. Dabbling in it for many years and even self-publishing a few books, I never really got serious about writing until 2020, right before the pandemic.

Now, I will admit that I when I purchased the book, I never really looked at it until years later... after I purchased a more recent copy and forgot that I had purchased the original one. The second one was purchased due to me remembering about the original copy that I had picked up to read when I worked in said campus bookstore. Again, I forgot about purchasing the first copy. I'm sure many have done that, too with other things, and many still will. Regardless, I took it upon myself to study and write notes about Writing Down the Bones and am forever grateful.

The one thing that really stuck out for me from the book is that you shouldn't edit as you write, even if it's bad. I will admit, that I have edited along the way. There are instances where I have had to due to consistency and accuracy, especially with the Eutopia series (see previous posts.) The importance, however, of not editing along the way is to keep your hand moving and keep the creative juices going. Something the Goldberg mentions time and time again through out the book. Be it writing by hand with a pen, pencil, paint brush, marker, crayon, whatever, or typing, the important thing is to keep your hand moving. This has been extremely helpful in all my writing, whatever it has been. My only thing to add would be, it's a rule that you can break if need be, if it's the case of consistency and accuracy. Which, again, is what I had to do.

Another thing that stood out in the book for me is that the author is telling us that we are not the poem or the story. I would have to disagree with that as we are putting part of our thoughts, our being, our soul even, down on paper. It's always going to be part of us. We are in fact part of the poem or story or whatever. But, that's my opinion on that.

Short chapters with titles such as "Man Eats Car", "Fighting Tofu", "Artistic Stability", "A Story Circle", "Living Twice", "Make Statements and Answer Questions", etc. make the book an easy read and study. I highly recommend taking notes! Ms. Goldberg has a great chapter on topics for writing practice, something she encourages the reader to do. And something else that I have found of great help. Again, it doesn't even have to be good. Write good, bad, and ugly. Write garbage, as the author states. I found that very helpful as I feel I write a lot of garbage. We are our own worst critic, after all.

You won't be sorry getting your hands on a copy of Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg if you want to improve your writing skills. There are also cards that you can acquire. I haven't personally gotten my hands on them, so I can't attest as to what there usefulness is. However, I will post a link to them on Amazon where you can read reviews.

Amazon Canada

Amazon USA

Thrift Books

*I do not receive any commissions from the recommendations mentioned in this post.  They are just resources that I have found helpful in my own writing journey.