Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

by Natalie Goldberg

take the plunge.

Writing practice could hold it all: the gory rawness of my emotions and the fogged-over mirrors of my memory.

‘The World Come Home to Me’?”

“settle the self on the self.”

Many people who want to write are unconsciously seeking peace, a coming together, an acknowledging of our happiness or an examination of what is broken, hoping to embrace and bring our suffering to wholeness.

Writing can give you confidence, can train you to wake up.

Where do thoughts come from? Memories, ideas, even the word the?

Meditation and writing practice are coincident.

(not take anything for granted)

Accept loss forever Be submissive to everything, open, listening No fear or shame in the dignity of your experience, language, and knowledge Be in love with your life

Write your asses off.

Erica Jong.

“Trust in love and it will take you where you need to go.”

“Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.” And don’t worry too much about security. You will eventually have a deep security when you begin to do what you want.

Learning to write is not a linear process. There is no logical A-to-B-to-C way to become a good writer.

beginner’s mind is what we must come back to every time we sit down and write.

Each time is a new journey with no maps.

you have permission to write the worst junk in the world and it would be okay.

you can try is speaking into a tape recorder and feeling how it is to directly record your voice speaking your thoughts.

It is true that the inside world creates the outside world, but the outside world and our tools also affect the way we form our thoughts.

Explore the rugged edge of thought.

First thoughts have tremendous energy. It is the way the mind first flashes on something. The internal censor usually squelches them, so we live in the realm of second and third thoughts, thoughts on thought, twice and three times removed from the direct connection of the first fresh flash.

“I cut the daisy from my throat”

First thoughts are also unencumbered by ego, by that mechanism in us that tries to be in control, tries to prove the world is permanent and solid, enduring and logical.

So if you express something egoless, it is also full of energy because it is expressing the truth of the way things are.

Don’t stop at the tears; go through to truth. This is the discipline.

Why else are first thoughts so energizing? Because they have to do with freshness and inspiration.

Inspiration means “breathing in.” Breathing in God. You actually become larger than yourself, and first thoughts are present. They are not a cover-up of what is actually happening or being felt. The pr...

Sit down with the least expectation of yourself; say, “I am free to write the worst junk in the world.” You have to give yourself the space to write a lot without a destination.

If every time you sat down, you expected something great, writing would always be a great disappointment.

All of you is moving; there’s no you separate from the runner. In writing, when you are truly on, there’s no writer, no paper, no pen, no thoughts. Only writing does writing—everything else is gone.

“We must continue to open in the face of tremendous opposition. No one is encouraging us to open and still we must peel away the layers of the heart.”

Katagiri Roshi said: “Your little will can’t do anything. It takes Great Determination. Great Determination doesn’t mean just you making an effort. It means the whole universe is behind you and with you—the birds, trees, sky, moon, and ten directions.”

Understanding this process cultivates patience and produces less anxiety.

“Don’t get rid of them.”

If you are not afraid of the voices inside you, you will not fear the critics outside you.

Yet it is good to know about our terrible selves, not laud or criticize them, just acknowledge them.

If you give your mind too much time to contemplate a beginning when you sit down to write, your monkey mind might meander over many topics and never quite get to putting a word on the page.

If those characters in you want to fight, let them fight. Meanwhile, the sane part of you should quietly get up, go over to your notebook, and begin to write from a deeper, more peaceful place.

It is important to have a way worked out to begin your writing; otherwise, washing the dishes becomes the most important thing on earth—anything that will divert you from writing. Finally, one just has to shut up, sit down, and write.

“Talk when you talk, walk when you walk, and die when you die.”

Write when you write.

“Teach in order to learn.”

You can make up all kinds of friendly tricks. Just don’t get caught in the endless cycle of guilt, avoidance, and pressure. When it is your time to write, write.

The Norton Anthology of English Literature

Writers, when they write, need to approach things for the first time each time.

How to generate writing ideas, things to write about?

Own anything you want in your writing and then let it go.

“Capability is like a water table below the surface of earth.” No one owns it, but you can tap it.

We learn writing by doing it. That simple. We don’t learn by going outside ourselves to authorities we think know about it.