Whenever I face a writing roadblock, I turn to my bookshelf for help. This time, to try to overcome my self-doubt, I went to my bookshelf and pulled down Natalie Goldberg's
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. There are a lot of things I can share about this book, but I will focus on the things that were most helpful for me.
Goldberg emphasizes writing as a practice, one that we should live out daily. She attunes daily writing to a runner who warms up before a race: just as a runner must stretch and warm the muscles, the writer must stretch and warm up the voice. It's part of what Goldberg calls "composting." She says, "Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds and old steak bones of our minds come nitrogen, heat and very fertile soil. Out of this fertile soil bloom our poems and stories." Writing down our observations, thoughts and memories is what leads us to our poems our short stories, our settings, our characters. Not all of what we write will be good or useable but that's why its practice. Write about everything, write whatever moves you to put pen to paper. This is one bit of inspiration I am trying to incorporate into my writing life.
Another great takeaway from
Writing Down the Bones is the importance of detail. Details breathe life into our stories. Goldberg says to be specific: "Give things the dignity of their names." Details bring us into the present, into the moment. Plus, she adds, "Tossing in the color of the sky at the right moment lets the piece breathe a little more." She goes on to say, "It is important to say the names of who we are, the places we have lived, and to write the details of our lives. ...We have lived; our moments are important. This is what it is to be a writer: to be the carrier of details that make up history, to care about the orange booths in the coffee shop in Owatonna."
The short chapters in
Writing Down the Bones can be read sequentially or not, as they all stand alone so that you can open to any chapter and read it if you wish.
If you are feeling stuck, unsure of yourself or uninspired, open to any chapter that is of interest to you. You are sure to find inspiration within this book's pages.
