Keep your hand moving
One of Natalie Goldberg’s writing strategies is simply to keep your hand moving, don’t let your internal editor silence your story before it has a chance to emerge. I was reminded of this when I stumbled across a wonderful site recently, red Ravine, where writers QuoinMonkey and ybonesy share their practice, an exploration informed by the work of Natalie Goldberg. They have a thoughtful and inspiring forum.
When I visited red Ravine recently, I mentioned on the posting in honor of Goldberg’s upcoming book that my first writing books were Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind. I believe that a lot of what I know about writing, I first learned from those books.
Some of my most treasured books are about writing. Here are ten of my favorites; they are linked to Powells synopses if you are interested in reading a little bit about them.
- Writing down the Bones - Natalie Goldberg
- Wild Mind - Natalie Goldberg
- Letters to a Young Poet - Rainer Maria Rilke
- Writing without Teachers - Peter Elbow
- Writing a Woman’s Life - Carolyn G. Heilbrun
- The Art of Fiction - John Gardner
- The Writing Life - Annie Dillard
- On Writing - Stephen King
- Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
- Reading Like a Writer - Francine Prose
What are your favorite books about writing?
