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
wisdom jobs wake-up
And we can't avoid an inch of our own experience; if we do it causes a blur, a bleep, a puffy unreality. Our job is to wake up to everything, because if we slow down enough, we see that we are everything.
running school writing
This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it.
book reading glasses
I'm never ashamed to read a book twice or as many times as I want. We never expect to drink a glass of water just once in our lives. A book can be that essential, too.
book ice-cream sorrow
Even an ice cream parlor - a definite advantage - does not alleviate the sorrow I feel for a town lacking a bookstore.
writing energy direct
I don't know anything but writing practice, and so what I really do is direct that energy as if it were flowing down a river.
giving literature moments
Literature gives us the great gift of the present moment.
writing thinking soda-pop
We always worry that we are copying someone else, that we don't have our own style. Don't worry. Writing is a communal act. Contrary to popular belief, a writer is not Prometheus alone on a hill full of fire. We are very arrogant to think we alone have a totally original mind. We are carried on the backs of all the writers who came before us. We live in the present with all the history, ideas, and soda pop of this time. It all gets mixed up in our writing.
great-love lovers realizing
Great lovers realize that they are what they are in love with.
writing house chocolate
It used to be with chocolate. I would put chocolate in my studio and say, "You know, Nat, there's this chocolate you can have if you get over there." And usually if I got over there, I would start writing. Sometimes I need get out of the house and go to a café and write. Sometimes I'll write with other friends to get myself going. And sometimes I just say "Ok, Nat, enough. Go one hour. Keep your hand going." I'll do whatever it takes.
dubious planning results
Indefinite plans get dubious results.
thinking poetry dumb
Poetry is a dumb Buddha who thinks a donkey is as important as a diamond.
perseverance greed clarity
Clarity and perseverance are difficult in American society because the basis of capitalism is greed and dissatisfaction.
cancer mean writing
I don't mean to be flippant about cancer - it was hard, it was tough and it was scary. Then my next manuscript was about cancer because I had a whole new topic to write about. And because I wrote, it didn't take over. Writing took the chaos out of cancer.
writing want firsts
When you write what you know, you stay in control. One of the first things I encourage my writing students to do is to lose control - say what they want to say, break structure.