Home / Authors / Natalie Goldberg

Natalie Goldberg

Natalie Goldberg Quotes

Author

Natalie Goldberg is an American author recognized for her work at the intersection of Zen Buddhism and creative writing. Born in 1948, she has authored several books that delve into the fusion of mindfulness and writing, with 'Writing Down the Bones' being particularly influential.

Filter quotes by topic

All Writing Ifs Mind Thinking Practice Want Knows World Needs Way Book Feels Hands Stories Earth People Cancer Details Firsts Moments

Famous Natalie Goldberg Quotes

“It’s good to go off and write a novel, but don’t stop doing writing practice.”

Writing Practice Novel

Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Source: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

“This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it.”

Writing Running School Practice

Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Source: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

“[T]he one thing I want for you is to recognize when you are really singing in writing practice and honor that. Trust that. When you were screaming on the page. Maybe that doesn't make a whole book but that is the true seed.”

Want Writing Book Whole Practice One Thing Honor Pages Singing Seeds

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“It is simply that person's time. Ours will come in this lifetime or the next. No matter. Continue to practice.”

Persons Matter Next Practice Lifetime

Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Source: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

“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.”

Ifs Knows Writing Energy Practice Rivers Direct

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“I consider writing a legitimate Zen practice.”

Writing Practice

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“I came out with a book called The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life with Language. It's a book that describes how writing is a practice and how my teaching is part of that practice. I direct the writing and create books but underneath, there's always the river of practice happening. No good, no bad. Just do it.”

Writing Book Language Secret Practice Teaching Happenings Rivers Direct Connecting Just Do It

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“I told all kinds of stories about going to Japan, about playing ball with my father... I wanted to record my life in case it was going to end soon. So, I wrote that and it was very comforting to have that practice in the afternoons in my living room. I just wrote about my life.”

Kind Ends Stories Wanted Father Rooms Practice Cases Records Balls All Kinds Japan Afternoon Comforting Living Room

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“The first thing is how awful cancer was, the experience. When you first go through it, you're just trying to survive. But when I wrote about it, I really digested it. It was unbearable but I had practice behind me.”

Knows Trying Firsts Behinds Practice Cancer Awful Unbearable

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“Because I've been doing my practice for so long, I knew what to do even under really hard circumstances.”

Long Hard Practice Circumstances

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“Friends open the door for me to write. Then I get paid attention to and it allows me to write other books. The Great Spring and the thirtieth anniversary of Bones just came out and while I'm happy and excited about that, I've already finished a new book. That's what practice does. You don't get caught.”

Writing Doe Book Attention Practice Doors Spring Paid Caught Excited Bones Finished New Books

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“Writing practice brings us back to the uniqueness of our own minds and an acceptance of it. We all have wild dreams, fantasies, and ordinary thoughts. Let us to feel the texture of them and not be afraid of them.Writing is still the wildest thing I know.”

Knows Feels Writing Mind Stills Dream Practice Fantasy Acceptance Ordinary Uniqueness Texture Wild Dreams

Book:Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life

Source: Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life

“This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days you don't want to run and you resist every step of the three miles, but you do it anyway. You practice whether you want to or not. You don't wait around for inspiration and a deep desire to run ... That's how writing is too ... One of the main aims in writing practice is to learn to trust your own mind and body; to grow patient and nonaggressive.”

Want Writing Mind Body Inspiration Running School Desire Three Grows Waiting Steps Practice Aim Patient Miles Mind And Body Every Step Deep Desire

Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Source: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

“It is odd that we never question the feasibility of a football team practicing long hours for one game; yet in writing we rarely give ourselves the space for practice.”

Giving Writing Long Games Hours Space Practice Team Football Odd Football Team Long Hours Feasibility

Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Source: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

“In writing practice, there's no direction. You enter your own mind and follow it where it takes you. We have a great need to connect with our own mind and our own true self. And all of us have a story to tell.”

Needs Writing Mind Self Stories Healing Practice True Self

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“Learning to write is not a linear process. There is no logical A-to-B-to-C way to become a good writer. One neat truth about writing cannot answer it all. There are many truths. To do writing practice means to deal ultimately with your whole life.”

Way Writing Mean Whole Process Answers Deals Practice Whole Life Logical Neat Linear Good Writers

Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Source: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

“What writing practice, like Zen practice does is bring you back to the natural state of mind...The mind is raw, full of energy, alive and hungry. It does not think in the way we were brought up to think-well-mann ered, congenial.”

Thinking Way Writing Mind Wells Doe States Energy Natural Practice Alive Hungry State Of Mind

Author:Natalie Goldberg

“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.”

Writing Practice Fool Pages

Author:Natalie Goldberg

About the Author

Born: 1948
Known for: Author
Quotes: 195

Related Topics

Writing Ifs Mind Thinking Practice Want Knows World Needs Way Book Feels Hands Stories Earth People Cancer Details Firsts Moments

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer WithinRelated source material

Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s LifeRelated source material

Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer’s CraftRelated source material

Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in AmericaRelated source material

Wild Mind: Living the Writer's LifeRelated source material

Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing MemoirRelated source material

The Great Failure: A Bartender, A Monk, and My Unlikely Path to TruthRelated source material

The Essential Writers Notebook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Better WritingRelated source material

The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life with LanguageRelated source material

Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer's CraftRelated source material

Similar Authors

William ZinsserBrowse related quotes
Elmore LeonardBrowse related quotes
Philip GerardBrowse related quotes
George SaundersBrowse related quotes
Stephen KingBrowse related quotes
Joyce Carol OatesBrowse related quotes
Paul AusterBrowse related quotes
Alice MattisonBrowse related quotes
Chuck WendigBrowse related quotes
Ray BradburyBrowse related quotes