Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

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Shambhala Publications, 2005 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 200 pages
For more than twenty years Natalie Goldberg has been challenging and cheering on writers with her books and workshops. In her groundbreaking first book, she brings together Zen meditation and writing in a new way. Writing practice, as she calls it, is no different from other forms of Zen practice --"it is backed by two thousand years of studying the mind."

This new edition, which marks almost twenty years since the original book's publication, includes a new preface in which Goldberg expresses her trademark enthusiasm for writing practice, as well as a depth of appreciation for the process that has come with time and experience. Also included is an interview with the author in which she reflects on the relationship between Zen sitting practice and writing, the importance of place, and the power of memory.

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Contents

Introduction I
1
First Thoughts
8
Composting
15
A List of Topics for Writing Practice
21
Trouble with the Editor
28
We Are Not the Poem
34
2 5
42
Baking a Cake
50
The Writing Studio
103
Write Anyplace
110
Doubt Is Torture
117
A Little Sweet
119
Every Monday
126
A Sensation of Space
133
The Goody TwoShoes Nature
140
A Meal You Love
147

Listening
57
What Are Your Deep Dreams?
65
Nervously Sipping Wine
72
Big Concentration
79
Writing Is a Communal Act
86
Make Statements and Answer
93
A Story Circle
156
Claim Your Writing
164
Rereading and Rewriting
172
Epilogue
179
Natalie Goldberg in Her Own Voice
197
Copyright

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About the author (2005)

NATALIE GOLDBERG is the author of ten books. WRITING DOWN THE BONES, her first, has sold over one million copies and has been translated into twelve languages. For the last thirty years she has practiced Zen and taught seminars in writing as a spiritual practice. She lives in New Mexico.

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