Product Description

Natalie Goldberg, author of the bestselling Writing Down The Bones, teaches a method of writing that can take you beyond craft to the true source of creative power: The mind that is "raw, full of energy, alive and hungry."

Here is compassionate, practical, and often humorous advice about how to find time to write, how to discover your personal style, how to make sentences come alive, and how to overcome procrastination and writer's block -- including more than thirty provocative "Try this" exercises to get your pen moving.

And here also is a larger vision of the writer's task: balancing daily responsibilities with a commitment to writing; knowing when to take risks as a writer and a human being; coming to terms with success and failure and loss; and learning self-acceptance -- both in life and art.

Wild Mind will change your way of writing. It may also change your life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28568 in Books
• Published on: 1990-10-01
• Released on: 1990-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780553347753
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Library Journal
This book is well intended but flawed by its somewhat incoherent style, lack of good writing, and an inability or unwillingness to target an audience. The brief autobiographical chapters offer counsel and moral support to the aspiring author, with a little Zen thrown in for good measure. There are several exercises for writing practice that are useful but can be invented or found elsewhere. The cosmic angle may appeal to those with New Age inclinations, although it may annoy others. While this book is inexpensive and accessible, a work on writing ought to contain some fine examples (e.g., Strunk and White's Elements of Style, or anything by William Zinsser).
- Janice Braun, Medical Historical Lib., Yale Univ.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher
"Natalie Goldberg, author of the bestselling Writing Down The Bones, teaches a method of writing that can take you beyond craft to the true source of creative power: The mind that is "raw, full of energy, alive and hungry."

Here is compassionate, practical, and often humorous advice about how to find time to write, how to discover your personal style, how to make sentences come alive, and how to overcome procrastination and writer's block -- including more than thirty provocative "Try this" exercises to get your pen moving.

And here also is a larger vision of the writer's task: balancing daily responsibilities with a commitment to writing; knowing when to take risks as a writer and a human being; coming to terms with success and failure and loss; and learning self-acceptance -- both in life and art.

Wild Mind will change your way of writing. It may also change your life.

From the Inside Flap
Natalie Goldberg, author of the bestselling  Writing Down The Bones, teaches a method  of writing that can take you beyond craft to the  true source of creative power: The mind that is  "raw, full of energy, alive and  hungry."



Here is compassionate, practical, and often  humorous advice about how to find time to write,  how to discover your personal style, how to make  sentences come alive, and how to overcome  procrastination and writer's block -- including more than  thirty provocative "Try this" exercises to  get your pen moving.



And here also  is a larger vision of the writer's task:  balancing daily responsibilities with a commitment to  writing; knowing when to take risks as a writer and a  human being; coming to terms with success and  failure and loss; and learning self-acceptance -- both  in life and art.



Wild  Mind will change your way of writing. It  may also change your life.

Customer Reviews

Has a place of honor on my reference shelf.
Many books on writing are strictly craft books. Some are about becoming "pro" - dealing with editors, managing your PR. This is not about that. WILD MIND is about practicing the art of writing and about the life of one writer, Natalie Goldberg. But is so clearly instructive, so vividly stimulating, that reading it will automatically boost your own creative fires, and very likely your output. So...in its way, it is a surprisingly practical book.

Like her earlier WRITING DOWN THE BONES, Goldberg has created another wonderful resource for the writer at any stage of his/her craft. She's evolved, refined and developed the exercises presented in Bones, as well as added new ideas. A favorite of mine is to read work aloud often. She writes: "Write, read,write, read. You become less attached to whether it is good or bad. 'I wrote this now I'll read it, no big deal.' " She gives guidelines for working in a writer's group, and has many "try this" suggestions sandwiched in between anecdotal moments from her life which enrich and strengthen us.

As a professional writer for 25 years, I personally learned from this book mid career and continue to revisit eleven years later. A must have for any writer.

Interesting read but not really a "how to write" book
After reading it twice, I think this book contains both positive and negative aspects. Basically, I've come to the conclusion that it's not a book on how to write. Instead, I view it as a memoir by a person with a more-or-less interesting life. At times, it makes for fascinating reading; other times, the stories and anecdotes fall really flat. The writing advice itself is sparse though there are several decent exercises to cure writers' block. Goldberg is a remarkable writer who has wisdom and wit, but I expected more actual writing *technique* from this book and was therefore disappointed.

By the way, I pity the narrow-minded reviewers who bash her for writing about her relationships with women. I've read plenty of books by heterosexual authors who constantly mention their spouses, and I don't see readers accusing them of throwing it in their faces.

Raw, Practical, Brilliant Book...
I read "Wild Mind" for the first time 2 weeks ago. Natalie Goldberg is a phenomenal writer who exposes herself in this book about writing, which, consequently makes it even more enjoyable to read. The book contains some ideas on Zen and everyday living, specifically applied to the context of writing. Throughout the book are many "Try This" writing exercises designed to let creativity flow through the mind, hand, and pen of the writer. It is an inspirational and encouraging read. I was so excited by this book that I have begun to write again, and not only that, but I immediately went out and bought "Banana Rose"(which she mentions in Wild Mind) and "Writing Down the Bones" and finished all 3 books in a week--because I LOVED THEM. Goldberg is brilliant as a writer and you can be too if you follow her advice.