Natalie Goldberg
Natalie Goldberg
Natalie Goldbergis an American popular New Age author and speaker She is best known for a series of books which explore writing as Zen practice...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
CountryUnited States of America
writing practice pages
I consider writing practice a true Zen practice because it all comes back at you. You can't fool anyone because it's on the page.
running always-running
Failure is what we're all running from, we're always running toward success with failure at our back.
writing thinking mind
The positive thing about writing is that you connect with yourself in the deepest way. You get a chance to know who you are, to know what you think. You begin to have a relationship with your mind.
sorry writing feel-better
Finally, if you want to write, you have to just shut up, pick up a pen, and do it. I'm sorry there are no true excuses. This is our life. Step forward. Maybe it's only for ten minutes. That's okay. To write feels better than all the excuses.
poetry pastime
Poetry has never been a favorite American pastime.
sex moving writing
Wherein we discover that many of the "rules" for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose control, and don't think.
dumb honor kind
I honor English majors. It's a dumb thing to major in. It leads nowhere. It's good to be dumb, it allows us to love something for no reason. That's the best kind of love.
believe intelligent elephants
This is what metaphor is. It is not saying that an ant is an elephant. Perhaps; both are alive. No. Metaphor is saying the ant is an elephant. Now, logically speaking, I know there is a difference. If you put elephants and ants before me, I believe that every time I will correctly identify the elephant and the ant. So metaphor must come from a very different place than that of the logical, intelligent mind. It comes from a place that is very courageous, willing to step out of our preconceived ways of seeing things and open so large that it can see the oneness in an ant and in an elephant.
jealous writing world
So writing is not just writing. It is also having a relationship with other writers. And don't be jealous, especially secretly. That's the worst kind. If someone writes something great, it's just more clarity in the world for all of us.
writing shut-up ends
In the end, you have to just sit down, shut up, and write.
greatness views mind
Original details are very ordinary, except to the mind that sees extraordinariness. it's not that we need to go to the Hopi mesas to see greatness; we need to view what we already have in a different way.
responsibility people alive
A responsibility of literature is to make people awake, present, alive. If the writer wanders, then the reader, too, will wander.
writing offering political
In writing with detail, you are turning to face the world. It is a deeply political act, because you are not staying in the heat of your own emotions. You are offering up some good solid bread for the hungry.
dog writing somewhere-else
I hear people say they're going to write. I ask, when? They give me vague statements. Indefinite plans get dubious results. When we're concrete about our writing time, it alleviates that thin constant feeling of anxiety that writers have - we're barbecuing hot dogs, riding a bike, sailing out in the bay, shopping for shoes, even helping a sick friend, but somewhere nervously at the periphery of our perception we know we belong somewhere else - at our desk!