A blog post by Melissa Ruisz Nazario
In the preface to the thirtieth anniversary edition of her seminal book, Writing Down the Bones [1], first published in 1986, Natalie Goldberg explains why she thinks so many people want to write.
“I don’t think everyone wants to create the great American novel, but we all have a dream of telling our stories–of realizing what we think, feel, and see before we die,” she observes. “Writing is a path to meet ourselves.”
The “bones” Goldberg wants her students to write down is, in her words, “the essential, awake speech of their minds.” She acknowledges this is easier said than done: “But I also know that I can’t just say, okay, write clearly and with great honesty. In class, we try different techniques and methods. Eventually the students hit the mark, come home to what they need to say and how they need to say it.”
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