---
title: "76 Writer Quotes By Natalie Goldberg"
description: "Natalie Goldberg on writing habits, confronting discomfort, and gentle self‑compassion."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/natalie-goldberg-1741_books_read-books-they-are-good-for-us-2647083_2647083.png"
---

> [Read books. They are good for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/read-books-they-are-good-for-us/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/natalie-goldberg-1741_books_read-books-they-are-good-for-us-2647083_2647083.png)

> [Shut up and write anyway. Don't use anything as an excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/shut-up-and-write-anyway-don-t-use-anything-as-an-excuse/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/natalie-goldberg-1741_excuse_shut-up-and-write-anyway-don-t-use-anyth_811892.png)

> [Literature gives us the great gift of the present moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/literature-gives-us-the-great-gift-of-the-present-moment/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da3/natalie-goldberg-1741_books_literature-gives-us-the-great-gift-of-th_2046047.png)

> [“Own anything you want in your writing and then let it go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/own-anything-you-want-in-your-writing-and-then-let-it-go/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d7/natalie-goldberg-1741_want_own-anything-you-want-in-your-writing-an_1911286.png)

> [Finally, one just has to shut up, sit down, and write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/finally-one-just-has-to-shut-up-sit-down-and-write/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4e/natalie-goldberg-1741_down-and_finally-one-just-has-to-shut-up-sit-down_1230667.png)

> [When we write we begin to taste the texture of our own mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/when-we-write-we-begin-to-taste-the-texture-of-our-own-mind/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/883/natalie-goldberg-1741_mind_when-we-write-we-begin-to-taste-the-text_2412452.png)

> [In the end, you have to just sit down, shut up, and write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/in-the-end-you-have-to-just-sit-down-shut-up-and-write/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/natalie-goldberg-1741_ends_in-the-end-you-have-to-just-sit-down-shu_1297218.png)

> [Writing is the act of discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/writing-is-the-act-of-discovery/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a71/natalie-goldberg-1741_discovery_writing-is-the-act-of-discovery-1864474_1864474.png)

> [Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/write-what-disturbs-you-what-you-fear-what-you-have-not-been-willing/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/natalie-goldberg-1741_fear_write-what-disturbs-you-what-you-fear-wh_529839.png)

> [Writing is the crack through which you can crawl into a bigger world, into your wild mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/writing-is-the-crack-through-which-you-can-crawl-into-a-bigger-world/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/195/natalie-goldberg-1741_bigger_writing-is-the-crack-through-which-you-c_944091.png)

> [In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/in-the-middle-of-the-world-make-one-positive-step-in-the-center-of/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0a/natalie-goldberg-1741_chaos_in-the-middle-of-the-world-make-one-posi_2770214.png)

> [When I wrote and got out of the way, writing did writing.” (p.90)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/when-i-wrote-and-got-out-of-the-way-writing-did-writing-p-90/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/natalie-goldberg-1741_way_when-i-wrote-and-got-out-of-the-way-writ_305540.png)

> [Ultimately, writing is about trusting your own mind. It is an act of discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/ultimately-writing-is-about-trusting-your-own-mind-it-is-an-act-of/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f96/natalie-goldberg-1741_discovery_ultimately-writing-is-about-trusting-you_434253.png)

> [Know that you will eventually have to leave everything behind; the writing will demand it of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/know-that-you-will-eventually-have-to-leave-everything-behind-the/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/natalie-goldberg-1741_behinds_know-that-you-will-eventually-have-to-le_51706.png)

> [To encounter a fine book and have time to read it is a wonderful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/to-encounter-a-fine-book-and-have-time-to-read-it-is-a-wonderful-thing/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ab/natalie-goldberg-1741_book_to-encounter-a-fine-book-and-have-time-t_56034.png)

> [While I had cancer, I wrote these twenty-two personal essays about how I lived my life backed by Zen and writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/while-i-had-cancer-i-wrote-these-twenty-two-personal-essays-about-how/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/natalie-goldberg-1741_cancer_while-i-had-cancer-i-wrote-these-twenty_1424633.png)

> [Too often we take notes on writing, we think about writing but never do it. I want you to walk into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/too-often-we-take-notes-on-writing-we-think-about-writing-but-never/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/natalie-goldberg-1741_dripping_too-often-we-take-notes-on-writing-we-th_1913330.png)

> [Writers end up writing about their obsessions. Things that haunt them; things they can’t forget; stories they carry in their bodies waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/writers-end-up-writing-about-their-obsessions-things-that-haunt-them/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/natalie-goldberg-1741_body_writers-end-up-writing-about-their-obses_2830027.png)

> [Understand that writing is like an athletic activity. To play tennis well, you expect to keep practicing, but for some reason with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/understand-that-writing-is-like-an-athletic-activity-to-play-tennis/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/natalie-goldberg-1741_activity_understand-that-writing-is-like-an-athle_1405479.png)

> [“There is no excuse. If you want to write, write.This is your life, you are responsible for it.You will not live forever.Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/there-is-no-excuse-if-you-want-to-write-write-this-is-your-life-you/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/natalie-goldberg-1741_excuse_there-is-no-excuse-if-you-want-to-write_2402814.png)

> [“If every time you sat down, you expected something great, writing would always be a great disappointment. Plus that expectation would also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/if-every-time-you-sat-down-you-expected-something-great-writing-would/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ee/natalie-goldberg-1741_expectation_if-every-time-you-sat-down-you-expected_2645004.png)

> [Use original detail in your writing. Life is so rich, if you can write down the real details of the way things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/use-original-detail-in-your-writing-life-is-so-rich-if-you-can-write/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/natalie-goldberg-1741_details_use-original-detail-in-your-writing-life_539828.png)

> [“It is our hope that writing releases us. Instead maybe it deepens the echo. We call out to our past and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/it-is-our-hope-that-writing-releases-us-instead-maybe-it-deepens-the/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/natalie-goldberg-1741_hope_it-is-our-hope-that-writing-releases-us_1472542.png)

> [Wherein we discover that many of the "rules" for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/wherein-we-discover-that-many-of-the-rules-for-good-writing-and-good/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4e/natalie-goldberg-1741_good-sex_wherein-we-discover-that-many-of-the-rul_1732712.png)

> [There's an old adage in writing: 'Don't tell, but show.' Writing is not psychology. We do not talk 'about' feelings. Instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/there-s-an-old-adage-in-writing-don-t-tell-but-show-writing-is-not/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/natalie-goldberg-1741_adages_there-s-an-old-adage-in-writing-don-t-te_1407743.jpg)

> [ Let's say I've directed that \[writing\] energy into writing my latest book but suddenly, I really want to write about an onion.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/let-s-say-i-ve-directed-that-writing-energy-into-writing-my-latest/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/natalie-goldberg-1741_book_let-s-say-i-ve-directed-that-writing-ene_1176445.png)

> [In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/in-the-past-few-years-i-ve-assigned-books-to-be-read-before-a-student/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/natalie-goldberg-1741_book_in-the-past-few-years-i-ve-assigned-book_68751.jpg)

> [This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/this-is-the-practice-school-of-writing-like-running-the-more-you-do-2/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ab/natalie-goldberg-1741_aim_this-is-the-practice-school-of-writing-l_1139974.jpg)

> [I came out with a book called The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life with Language. It's a book that describes how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/i-came-out-with-a-book-called-the-true-secret-of-writing-connecting/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/387/natalie-goldberg-1741_book_i-came-out-with-a-book-called-the-true-s_2939636.png)

> [If you feel bored or uncomfortable as you're writing, ask yourself what's bothering you and write about that. Sometimes your creative energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/if-you-feel-bored-or-uncomfortable-as-you-re-writing-ask-yourself/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/804/natalie-goldberg-1741_ask-yourself_if-you-feel-bored-or-uncomfortable-as-yo_154591.png)

> [The things that make you a functional citizen in society - manners, discretion, cordiality - don't necessarily make you a good writer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/the-things-that-make-you-a-functional-citizen-in-society-manners/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ce/natalie-goldberg-1741_citizens_the-things-that-make-you-a-functional-ci_276548.png)

> [Finally, if you want to write, you have to just shut up, pick up a pen, and do it. I'm sorry there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/finally-if-you-want-to-write-you-have-to-just-shut-up-pick-up-a-pen/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72b/natalie-goldberg-1741_excuse_finally-if-you-want-to-write-you-have-to_1916891.png)

> [It's okay to embark on writing because you think it will get you love. At least it gets you going, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/it-s-okay-to-embark-on-writing-because-you-think-it-will-get-you-love/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/368/natalie-goldberg-1741_bills_it-s-okay-to-embark-on-writing-because-y_1883090.jpg)

> [“We are important and our lives are important, magnificent really, and their details are worthy to be recorded. This is how writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/we-are-important-and-our-lives-are-important-magnificent-really-and-2/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/natalie-goldberg-1741_life_we-are-important-and-our-lives-are-impor_3126562.png)

> [“One of my writing students sent me an article about Kincaid in The New York Times: “I’m not writing for anyone at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/one-of-my-writing-students-sent-me-an-article-about-kincaid-in-the/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cb/natalie-goldberg-1741_writer_one-of-my-writing-students-sent-me-an-ar_721091.png)

> [A writer must say yes to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/a-writer-must-say-yes-to-life/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/natalie-goldberg-1741_funny_a-writer-must-say-yes-to-life-181979_181979.png)

> [Writing is not a McDonald’s Hamburger..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/writing-is-not-a-mcdonald-s-hamburger/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c4/natalie-goldberg-1741_hamburger_writing-is-not-a-mcdonald-s-hamburger-11_1112476.png)

> [The only failure in writing is when you stop doing it. Then you fail yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/the-only-failure-in-writing-is-when-you-stop-doing-it-then-you-fail/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/natalie-goldberg-1741_fail_the-only-failure-in-writing-is-when-you_2360506.png)

> [“OK, now write for ten minutes, keep the hand moving, tell me what you carry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/ok-now-write-for-ten-minutes-keep-the-hand-moving-tell-me-what-you/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21b/natalie-goldberg-1741_carry_ok-now-write-for-ten-minutes-keep-the-ha_1108594.png)

> [When you are not writing, you are a writer too. It doesn't leave you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/when-you-are-not-writing-you-are-a-writer-too-it-doesn-t-leave-you/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/natalie-goldberg-1741_funny_when-you-are-not-writing-you-are-a-write_1559523.png)

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## More by Natalie Goldberg

> [“We heard about people who go back to their roots. That is good, but don't get stuck in the root. There is the branch,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/we-heard-about-people-who-go-back-to-their-roots-that-is-good-but-don/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [Over and over, we have to go back to the beginning. We should not be ashamed of this. It is good. It's like drinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/over-and-over-we-have-to-go-back-to-the-beginning-we-should-not-be/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [I feel very rich when I have time to write and very poor when I get a regular paycheck and no time at my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/i-feel-very-rich-when-i-have-time-to-write-and-very-poor-when-i-get-a/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [Actually, when I look at my old notebooks, I think I have been a bit self-indulgent and have given myself too much time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/actually-when-i-look-at-my-old-notebooks-i-think-i-have-been-a-bit/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect-experience-and-from-the/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [Know that you will eventually have to leave everything behind; the writing will demand it of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/know-that-you-will-eventually-have-to-leave-everything-behind-the/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [To encounter a fine book and have time to read it is a wonderful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/to-encounter-a-fine-book-and-have-time-to-read-it-is-a-wonderful-thing/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have been astonished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/in-the-past-few-years-i-ve-assigned-books-to-be-read-before-a-student/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [“When you draw and pay attention to what is, it's a form of being present. This inspires the mind, makes it happy, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/when-you-draw-and-pay-attention-to-what-is-it-s-a-form-of-being/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [Poetry is a dumb Buddha who thinks a donkey is as important as a diamond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/poetry-is-a-dumb-buddha-who-thinks-a-donkey-is-as-important-as-a/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/i-told-all-kinds-of-stories-about-going-to-japan-about-playing-ball/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [“No matter what a person does to cover up and conceal themselves, when we write and lose control, I can spot a person from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/no-matter-what-a-person-does-to-cover-up-and-conceal-themselves-when/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [To stay close and intimate with experience is to stay close to the mind; the nitty gritty mind of the way things really are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/to-stay-close-and-intimate-with-experience-is-to-stay-close-to-the/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [I read Eve Ensler and thought it was fabulous. Not only that, but it was really the only thing I could relate to about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/i-read-eve-ensler-and-thought-it-was-fabulous-not-only-that-but-it/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

> [If you feel bored or uncomfortable as you're writing, ask yourself what's bothering you and write about that. Sometimes your creative energy is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/if-you-feel-bored-or-uncomfortable-as-you-re-writing-ask-yourself/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

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                        "text": "While I had cancer, I wrote these twenty-two personal essays about how I lived my life backed by Zen and writing.",
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                        "text": "Too often we take notes on writing, we think about writing but never do it. I want you to walk into the heart of the storm, written words dripping off hair, eyelids, hanging from hands.",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Writers end up writing about their obsessions. Things that haunt them; things they can’t forget; stories they carry in their bodies waiting to be released.",
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                        "text": "Understand that writing is like an athletic activity. To play tennis well, you expect to keep practicing, but for some reason with writing, you think you should come out fresh the first time.",
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                        "text": "“There is no excuse. If you want to write, write.This is your life, you are responsible for it.You will not live forever.Don't wait. Make the time now.”",
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                        "text": "“If every time you sat down, you expected something great, writing would always be a great disappointment. Plus that expectation would also keep you from writing.”",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Use original detail in your writing. Life is so rich, if you can write down the real details of the way things were and are, you hardly need anything else.",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“It is our hope that writing releases us. Instead maybe it deepens the echo. We call out to our past and the call comes back. We are alone--and not alone.”",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Wherein we discover that many of the \"rules\" for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose control, and don't think.",
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                        "text": "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.",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Let's say I've directed that [writing] energy into writing my latest book but suddenly, I really want to write about an onion. I don't say to myself, \"No, you have stay on the subject,\" because I know that the longer I stay on the subject the more boring I get. So, if my mind wants to write about an onion, it might be a deeper way to go into what I'm working on, even though it might seem irrelevant. This is how I've learned to follow my mind.",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have been astonished by how few people -- people who supposedly want to write -- read books, and if they read them, how little they examine them.",
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                        "text": "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.",
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                        "text": "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.",
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                        "text": "If you feel bored or uncomfortable as you're writing, ask yourself what's bothering you and write about that. Sometimes your creative energy is like water in a kinked hose, and before thoughts can flow on the topic at hand, you have to straighten the hose by attending to whatever is preoccupying you.",
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                        "text": "The things that make you a functional citizen in society - manners, discretion, cordiality - don't necessarily make you a good writer. Writing needs raw truth, wants your suffering and darkness on the table, revels in a cutting mind that takes no prisoners...",
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                        "text": "Finally, if you want to write, you have to just shut up, pick up a pen, and do it. I'm sorry there are no true excuses. This is our life. Step forward. Maybe it's only for ten minutes. That's okay. To write feels better than all the excuses.",
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                        "text": "It's okay to embark on writing because you think it will get you love. At least it gets you going, but it doesn't last. After a while you realize that no one cares that much. Then you find another reason: money. You can dream on that one while the bills pile up. Then you think: \"Well, I'm the sensitive type. I have to express myself.\" Do me a favor. Don't be so sensitive. Be tough. It will get you further along when you get rejected. Finally, you just do it because you happen to like it.",
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                        "text": "“We are important and our lives are important, magnificent really, and their details are worthy to be recorded. This is how writers must think, this is how we must sit down with pen in hand. We were here; we are human beings; this is how we lived. Let it be known, the earth passed before us. Our details are important. Otherwise, if they are not, we can drop a bomb and it doesn't matter. . . Recording the details of our lives is a stance against bombs with their mass ability to kill, against too much speed and efficiency. A writer must say yes to life, to all of life: the water glasses, the Kemp's half-and-half, the ketchup on the counter. It is not a writer's task to say, \"It is dumb to live in a small town or to eat in a café when you can eat macrobiotic at home.\" Our task is to say a holy yes to the real things of our life as they exist – the real truth of who we are: several pounds overweight, the gray, cold street outside, the Christmas tinsel in the showcase, the Jewish writer in the orange booth across from her blond friend who has black children. We must become writers who accept things as they are, come to love the details, and step forward with a yes on our lips so there can be no more noes in the world, noes that invalidate life and stop these details from continuing.”",
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                        "text": "“One of my writing students sent me an article about Kincaid in The New York Times: “I’m not writing for anyone at all,” Ms. Kincaid said. “I’m writing out of desperation. I felt compelled to write to make sense of it to myself—so I don’t end up saying peculiar things like ‘I’m black and I’m proud.’ I write so I don’t end up as a set of slogans and clichés.” That is exactly what writing is supposed to do—take us into the real texture of life—no generalizations. Why did I assign Kincaid’s book to my Taos workshop? I guess I hoped people would make a leap from Antigua to my hometown. Yes, the mountains are gorgeous and we have a rich tricultural society. We don’t have the same problems as Antigua, but I wanted my students to be more than casual tourists buying tee-shirts and dripping with turquoise. I wanted them to look deeper. Understanding engenders care. I wanted them to care about Taos. But something else, too. I wanted them to experience that passion and vision are as important to nonfiction as to fiction, that nonfiction can be as much an act of imagination and exploration and discovery as fiction or poetry—and that exciting language is part of its power.”",
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