Book Review: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Is the book, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (1986), by Natalie Goldberg, an introduction to creative writing, or is it an introduction to Zen meditation? How about both?

In Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, author Natalie Goldberg’s efforts to introduce writers to writing is a little bit of both good writing skills and Zen philosophy, an interesting twist.

The spirituality of writing

According to Goldberg, there is a deep spirituality that a writer can reach through writing:

o   Have you ever been so absorbed in your writing that you lose sense of time and everything around you?

o   Sometimes, right after you stop writing, or when someone interrupts you, do you feel like you are just waking up from a dream?

o   When you’ve put in a lot of hours, and you really like what you’ve written, do you get a ‘writer’s high’?

To reach this sense of spirituality, Goldberg explains the basic concepts of Zen meditation. She shares insightful quotes from Shamans to give her points validity. For example, in the chapter on Syntax, Goldberg shares one of her favorite Shaman’s words, “Have kind consideration for all sentient beings” (2005, p. 9). What does consideration and kindness have to do with becoming a better writer? Perhaps Goldberg is pointing out that writers can reach enlightenment and sensitivity by becoming more aware of everything in their surroundings. What Goldberg is trying to teach is that through reaching spiritual inner core, creative writing will reach a rhythmic pulse that connects to this depth. 

Writing beautiful sentences

While reading Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, I found myself underlining sentences that I liked based on the craft of the sentence. Goldberg is truly artistic, poetic, and imaginative throughout her writing. For example, Goldberg writes, “What great writers actually pass on is not so much their words, but they hand on their breath at their moments of inspiration” (p. 56). The book explains writing in the sense that writers must truly experience all aspects of the words. The experience must encompass how we feel, see, hear, smell, taste, and breathe what we write to share it on a holistic level. There are many beautiful sentences throughout Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within that offer profound insights.

Writing Prompts

Portions of this book include fun writing prompts that are meant to explore different facets of creative writing skills. These prompts encourage new ideas. The writing activity that stands out the most is Goldberg’s experiment with writing poetry on demand. She arranged to sit at a table at a special event and write for paying customers on any topic they asked. Goldberg explained the liberating feeling of writing-on-demand and giving away what she wrote, knowing the likelihood that she’d never see those gems again.

Writing tips

If a reader is looking for concrete writing tips, such as about story structure, character arcs, conflict, and the like, this is not the book to read. Instead, Goldberg expresses creative writing as a holistic journey to explore spiritual oneness with one’s writing experiences. She urges the writer to write freely without the constricting need to edit.

Through Writing the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, Natalie Goldberg teaches the writer to practice Zen meditation to reach the spiritual core of writing. As a result, Goldberg leads a persuasive argument that writers will reach a greater emotional and spiritual depth while writing stories. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within is a delightful balance of teaching the art of storytelling and teaching the writer to appreciate the Zen practice of reaching the true inner author.