Wednesday, June 8, 2016

The True Secret of Writing by Natalie Goldberg

This is the second book by Natalie Goldberg that I have had the pleasure of reading. The True Secret of Writing is the follow up type of book to her book Writing Down the Bones (you can read my thoughts on that book here)

This book focuses more on her zen training and the zen style writing boot camps that she holds. She shares all there is to know about her boot camps, even sharing a schedule she's used at one of them so the reader can get a real feel of her zen writing boot camps for themselves. 

As usual, this book is chock full of wisdom and anecdotes all geared to succeeding and inspiring others to write. It's a beautiful guidebook just waiting to kick start anyone's writing. It's hard to explain why I love her writing so much without sitting down and quoting you whole pages of her magical words. They are like pearls of wisdom on the page that just send a tingle down my spine and makes me feel like I can pick up my pen and move mountains. 

It took me quite a long time to read this book mainly because I needed frequent pauses to to savor it and let the knowledge sink in. Since completing it the first time I`ve picked it up again numerous times to flip through when in need of inspiration. 

I loved her tales of her own writing path. She discusses different ways she's written, things she's done to write, and everything in between. I read Writing Down the Bones first, of course, but I did not find even one instance of repetitiveness between the two, even though the subject matter is so very similar. Both are equally important and both are equally great. 

Recommendation: This book is a definite must read for any writer. It's truly a staple on my bookshelf. If something happened to my copy, this is a book I would have to replace. I am so much better for having read this book.


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