A review by witzelsucht
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

2.0

Though this is a more positive and well-written book than Anne Lamott's almost malevolent Bird by Bird (which I'm still annoyed I read), I came away with the same net result: learning very little and feeling like these autobiographical, write-your-feelings, self-help author-gurus are the most annoying people alive. Spare me the poetry exercises about your childhood and write about shit that rocks, like a haunted car that tries to kill you or something.

Writing Down the Bones is OK for bite-sized nuggets of insight. There are some genuinely heartwarming and thought-provoking bits that made me contemplate a third star. But there's a whole lot of motivational platitudes and navel-gazing waffle to get through to reach the material of substance - the actually interesting parts about craft and practical process. It didn't leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, but it didn't leave me with much of anything, really.