Writing Down The Bones

For all you writers out there, can I recommend a book? Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, published 1986, is about the creativity side of writing. It looks at what it means to be a writer, and how to develop yourself, rather than just techniques for creating characters and plots. I will be reviewing the book in depth once I have finished it, but here is a sample:

Use Loneliness
Writing can be very lonely. Who’s going to read it, who cares about it? A student asked me, “Do you write for yourself or do you write for an audience?” Think of sharing your need to talk with someone else when you write. Reach out of the deep chasm of loneliness and express yourself to another human being. “This is how it was for me when I lived in the Midwest.” Write so they understand. Art is communication. Taste the bitterness of isolation, and from that place feel a kinship and compassion for all people who have been alone. Then in your writing lead yourself out of it by thinking of someone and wanting to express your life to him. Reach out in your writing to another lonely soul.