Quotessence
Home / Authors / Natalie Goldberg Books
Natalie Goldberg

Natalie Goldberg Books

Author

Related Quotes

“No matter what a person does to cover up and conceal themselves, when we write and lose control, I can spot a person from Alabama, Florida, South Carolina a mile away even if they make no exact reference to location. Their words are lush like the land they come from, filled with nine aunties, people named Bubba. There is something extravagant and wild about what they have to say — snakes on the roof of a car, swamps, a delta, sweat, the smell of sea, buzz of an air conditioner, Coca-Cola — something fertile, with a hidden danger or shame, thick like the humidity, unspoken yet ever-present. Often when a southerner reads, the members of the class look at each other, and you can hear them thinking, gee, I can't write like that. The power and force of the land is heard in the piece. These southerners know the names of what shrubs hang over what creek, what dogwood flowers bloom what color, what kind of soil is under their feet. I tease the class, "Pay no mind. It's the southern writing gene. The rest of us have to toil away.”

WritingHeritageSouthernersSouthern Literature
Author:Natalie Goldberg
Create image

“Writers do like money; artists, contrary to popular belief, do like to eat. It’s only that money isn’t the driving force. I feel very rich when I have time to write and very poor when I get a regular paycheck and no time to work at my real work. Think of it. Employers pay salaries for time. That is the basic commodity that human beings have that is valuable. We exchange our time in life for money. Writers stay with the first step—their time—and feel it is valuable even before they get money for it. They hold on to it and aren’t so eager to sell it.”

WritingArtSuccessTimeMoneyWriterStarving Artist
Book:Writing Down the Bones, Freeing the Writer Within
Create image

“Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.”

LifeBelieveImportantStatesEarthLyingForgetStressBreathsIgnorantEmergenciesStress ReliefStress ManagementDisconnectionStress FreeStressorsWork StressStress And LifeInspirational Stress ReliefFunny Stress
Book:Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life
Create image

“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.”

IfsKnowsWayMindBelieveDifferentI BelieveDifferencesStepsAliveSeeingWillingIntelligentMetaphorOnenessLogicalCourageousElephantsAntsDifferent Place
Author:Natalie Goldberg
Create image

“Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old steak bones out of our minds come nitrogen, heat, and very fertile soil. Out of this fertile soil bloom our poems and stories. But this does not come all at once. It takes time. Continue to turn over and over the organic details of your life until some of them fall through the garbage of discursive thoughts to the solid ground of black soil.”

MindDoeStoriesBodyTurnsFallBlackDetailsBonesCoffeeHeatSoilThrownTake TimeGarbageGrindFertileSteakIt Takes TimeNitrogenSpinachFertile SoilEggshellsDecomposition
Author:Natalie Goldberg
Create image

“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.”

ThinkingWritingMindIdeasBeliefWorryFireStyleOriginalsPopsContraryHillsArrogantLive In The PresentCopyingSodaPrometheusContrary To Popular BeliefSoda Pop
Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Create image

“There's an old adage in writing: 'Don't tell, but show.' Writing is not psychology. We do not talk 'about' feelings. Instead the writer feels and through her words awakens those feelings in the reader. The writer takes the reader's hand and guides him through the valley of sorrow and joy without ever having to mention those words.”

FeelsWritingShowsFeelingsHandsJoyPsychologyReaderSorrowGuidesValleysAdages
Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Create image

“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!”

PeopleKnowsGivingWritingHelpingFeelingsAsksResultsPlansDogAnxietyPerceptionSickGive MeHotConstantShoesStatementsShoppingConcreteRidingDesksVagueSailingBikeSomewhere ElseDubiousAlleviateHot DogPeriphery
Book:Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer’s Craft
Create image

“Katagiri Roshi says: "Poor artists. They suffer very much. They finish a masterpiece and they are not satisfied. They want to go on and do another." Yes, but it's better to go on and do another if you have the urge than to start drinking and become alcoholic or eat a pound of good fudge and get fat.”

IfsWantArtistSufferingPoorGoes OnDrinkingSatisfiedFatsUrgesPoundsMasterpieceAlcoholicsFudge
Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Create image