The only failure in writing is when you stop doing it. Then you fail yourself. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
When you are not writing, you are a writer too. It doesn't leave you. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
“OK, now write for ten minutes, keep the hand moving, tell me what you carry.” — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
While I had cancer, I wrote these twenty-two personal essays about how I lived my life backed by Zen and writing. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
To encounter a fine book and have time to read it is a wonderful thing. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Know that you will eventually have to leave everything behind; the writing will demand it of you. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Ultimately, writing is about trusting your own mind. It is an act of discovery. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
The positive thing about writing is that you connect with yourself in the deepest way. You get a chance to know who… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
That's very nice if they want to publish you, but don't pay too much attention to it. It will toss you away.… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
When you write what you know, you stay in control. One of the first things I encourage my writing students to do… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
You don't need to go to a therapist, you don't need to do all kinds of things. If you want to write,… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
“We learn writing by doing it. That simple. We don’t learn by going outside ourselves to authorities we think know about it.” — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
There's no such thing as a writer's block. If you're having trouble writing, well, pick up the pen and write. No matter… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
“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… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
“If every time you sat down, you expected something great, writing would always be a great disappointment. Plus that expectation would also… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
I write because I am alone and move through the world alone. No one will know what has passed through me... I… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
It used to be with chocolate. I would put chocolate in my studio and say, "You know, Nat, there's this chocolate you… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
We have to accept ourselves in order to write. Now none of us does that fully: few of us do it even… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
I have students that I tell, "If your book doesn't sell or you can't publish it, write another book. Quit sitting around."… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
“I met a doctor the other night who told me he had always wanted to be a writer. I nodded. People always… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
I hear people say they're going to write. I ask, when? They give me vague statements. Indefinite plans get dubious results. When… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
I came out with a book called The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life with Language. It's a book that describes how… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
If you feel bored or uncomfortable as you're writing, ask yourself what's bothering you and write about that. Sometimes your creative energy… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Understand that writing is like an athletic activity. To play tennis well, you expect to keep practicing, but for some reason with… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Writers end up writing about their obsessions. Things that haunt them; things they can’t forget; stories they carry in their bodies waiting… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Too often we take notes on writing, we think about writing but never do it. I want you to walk into the… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Wherein we discover that many of the "rules" for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
“It is our hope that writing releases us. Instead maybe it deepens the echo. We call out to our past and the… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Use original detail in your writing. Life is so rich, if you can write down the real details of the way things… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Let's say I've directed that [writing] energy into writing my latest book but suddenly, I really want to write about an onion.… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
There's an old adage in writing: 'Don't tell, but show.' Writing is not psychology. We do not talk 'about' feelings. Instead the… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Finally, if you want to write, you have to just shut up, pick up a pen, and do it. I'm sorry there… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Writing practice brings us back to the uniqueness of our own minds and an acceptance of it. We all have wild dreams,… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
The things that make you a functional citizen in society - manners, discretion, cordiality - don't necessarily make you a good writer.… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
“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,… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
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… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
I feel very rich when I have time to write and very poor when I get a regular paycheck and no time at my… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
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… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
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… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
Know that you will eventually have to leave everything behind; the writing will demand it of you. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
To encounter a fine book and have time to read it is a wonderful thing. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
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… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
“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… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
Poetry is a dumb Buddha who thinks a donkey is as important as a diamond. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
I told all kinds of stories about going to Japan, about playing ball with my father... I wanted to record my life in case… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
“No matter what a person does to cover up and conceal themselves, when we write and lose control, I can spot a person from… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
To stay close and intimate with experience is to stay close to the mind; the nitty gritty mind of the way things really are. — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
I read Eve Ensler and thought it was fabulous. Not only that, but it was really the only thing I could relate to about… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
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… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share
![“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…” quote by Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/natalie-goldberg-1741_book_let-s-say-i-ve-directed-that-writing-ene_1176445.png)
