Natalie has been practicing Zen meditation and teaching seminars in writing as a practice for the last twenty-five years. People from around the world attend her life-changing workshops and she has a reputation as a great teacher. The Oprah Winfrey Show sent a film crew to spend the day with Natalie for a segment on Spirituality that covered her writing, teaching, painting, and walking meditation. She currently lives in Northern New Mexico.
YA Goldberg will catch readers interested in writing with her opening confession that she was a ``goody-two-shoes all through school'' and should hold them until she pulls the last page from her typewriter, one ``Sunday night at eleven.'' Part writing guide, part Zen philosophy, and part personal diary, this book has the smooth, fast flow of a conversation with a good friend who, while struggling with her own writing, has picked up more than a few tips that she eagerly shares. Definitely not another ``how to write better themes'' or a rehash of the writing process, Goldberg's short, quirky chapters give the finer points of how to write in a restaurant and why bother to write at all. The earnest, slightly Bohemian, occasionally vulnerable voice will endear her to young writers who are looking not so much for a teacher or text as for validation that they can write and for some simple but intriguing tips to get them started. While there are the required chapters on using detail and keeping a journal, the most important thing Goldberg has to say to young people is that ``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. ''Carolyn Praytor Boyd, Episcopal High School, Bellaire, Tex.
"I'm convinced that none of the writers of my acquaintance can go another day without a copy of Natalie Goldberg's magical manual Writing Down the Bones."--Linda Weltner, The Boston Globe
"The secret of creativity, Natalie Goldberg makes clear, is to
subtract rules for writing, not add them. It's a process of
'uneducation' rather than education. Proof that she knows what
she's talking about is abundant in her own sentences. They flow
with speed and grace and accuracy and simplicity. It looks easy to
a reader, but writers know it is the hardest writing of
all."--Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance
"I'm convinced that none of the writers of my acquaintance can go
another day without a copy of Natalie Goldberg's magical manual
"Writing Down the Bones"."-Linda Weltner, "The Boston Globe"
"The secret of creativity, Natalie Goldberg makes clear, is to
subtract rules for writing, not add them. It's a process of
'uneducation' rather than education. Proof that she knows what
she's talking about is abundant in her own sentences. They flow
with speed and grace and accuracy and simplicity. It looks easy to
a reader, but writers know it is the hardest writing of
all."-Robert Pirsig, author of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance "
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
