Skeleton Dance

[commonpeople1]

Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones, 1986
I've now read this book three times. I was first introduced to it during university by a friend who described it as the perfect book for "not only writers but all types of artists." And he was right: the way Natalie talks about the life of the writer and the approaches to creating can also be applied to photography, painting, interpretive dancing, etc. It's a natural follow up to Allen Ginsberg's theory on poetry and writing which he taught during the 70s and 80s - and which Goldberg learned as his student - mixed with Zen philosophy and a lot of her own personal wisdom. It's a call for the artist to become aware of the world around herself/himself as a way of creating meaningful, honest and powerful art. The book is divided into brief chapters that can be read in any order and are filled with creative writing exercises and thoughtful divagations on being an artist. It won't teach you how to develop a story arc or create conflict in the third chapter, but it will give you hope on the powers of writing (or painting, or photographing) bringing out the artist in yourself.