Thursday, September 06, 2007

Writing

When I think of writing I think Of Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bonesand other writing books like Julia Cameron’s The Right to Write. I carry a copy of The The Right to Write in my purse so that I have something to read when I am waiting along with a notebook in case I feel the need to pass the time by writing.
My favorite place to write is in coffee shops with a latte’ I don’t write important stuff I just like to write because I can. I didn’t always like to write, as a teenager and a young adult I hated to write, wouldn’t and couldn’t do it. Responding to letters with a phone call or not at all. But that changed after I read Natalie Goldberg’s book and I learned to write just to write and stopped worrying about the spelling and the punctuation.
Some days I have something interesting to write about like the small black bear that has been wandering into the yard this week but other times I have nothing to write about but I don’t let that stop me from writing in my notebook I just write about the fact that there is nothing to write about no one is going to read my notebooks and at times like that I write for the sake of writing


This is my contribution for this weeks Sunday Scribblings

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I too carry writing books and jot down my thoughts. Who knows when my poetry muse might strike?

GreenishLady said...

Natalie Goldberg's books have profoundly influenced my writing - and really gave me the urge to want to share the joy of writing with others in workshops and classes. She is so wise and straight in her writing, she can't help but inspire.

Jo said...

I'm sad that I no longer enjoy writing long-hand. I need my computer, no idea why, it's so clinical. I love the thought of people out there with books of thoughts. I think that's why I like haiku so much -- I can work on it in my head LOL.

Anonymous said...

I love Natalie Goldberg, and fantasize about one of her workshops in Taos.

I keep a moleskine in my purse, but computing so much has essentially ruined my handwriting, so I don't use it as much as I should.

ANA said...

I too carry a journal with me, at all times. I love stationary, there is nothing like writing on a new paper with a new pen...but my growing obbsession for the random ether is destroying my handwriting...

Marie said...

Natalie Goldberg has saved many a writer from going down a path of a wordless life.

I admire your notebook...I love to write and many times wish I had my notebook with me, but I'm not good at carrying it. You re-inspired me. thank you.

Patois42 said...

We're all just a bunch of writers, aren't we? I, too, carry a notebook with me. And I've gone overboard and carry a tape recorder in case I'm driving or otherwise engaged and need to get something down fast! I've got to go get that book. Thanks for the recommendation.

Cyn Bagley said...

I too carry a notebook to catch my ideas. :-)

And, I have a whole shelf dedicated to writing books. LOL

e_journeys said...

I use Goldberg's and Cameron's books (and others) in my teaching. I also carry a notebook with me and have written just about everywhere. Often the "unimportant" stuff leads to insights, so I view nothing as being "unimportant."

Coffee shops and diners are great places to write. Sometimes I buy a cup of coffee to "rent" a writing table.

Anonymous said...

For years I carried a notebook and special pen for jotting down ideas and thoughts and scenes. I don't know why or when I stopped.
I write driectly on the computer.
But I have a moleskin notebook that MissMeliss gave me, iw riet a little in it.
I cannot always read what I have written.
Wriete becasue you can!
And because you must!

Anonymous said...

This post was great and reading Natalie Goldberg's book is what returned me to my love for writing. You have inspired me to sit down, have a latte and write.

Aiyana said...

I've read all of the Goldberg and Cameron books, and learned so much. I am like some of your other commentors. It's so hard to write with thumb arthritis, and it's basically unreadable. Regardless, I carry a notebook and pen always and have tons of notes. I just can't read most of it.
Aiyana

Anonymous said...

I love both of these books

Rob Kistner said...

Enjoyed your post.

In Julia's "The Artists Way", she talks about 'morning pages'... getting something, anything, written everyday. I agree with that concept and have done that for probably 45 years. Most of it is strings of thought, but often they lead somewhere -- usually later.