Review : Wild Mind–Living the Writer’s Life
I’m getting ready to write a novel in the coming months, so typically I’ve sought reminders and advice from several how-to write books. Top of my reading list was Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. I think I have this somewhere in my large library of books, and have previously read it – but I needed a reminder. That came with Wild Mind, in particular.
Despite the lack of structure, I enjoyed Wild Mind perhaps more than Writing Down the Bones. I read both books at once, and through them I’ve been brought back into my everyday writing practice, and hold a greater understanding that the writing process is a state of mind and way of living for me.
The reminder was because I have a copy of the followup books for writers written by this author. Unfortunately, I read them around the wrong way, reading Writing Down the Bones (originally published 1986) then Thunder and Lightning (published 2001) and finally Wild Mind (published 1990, as the first follow-up to Writing Down the Bones).
In a way, I’m glad I mixed the order up. Writing Down the Bones, as per it’s deserved and respected reputation (making it onto one of the ‘must-reads’ book lists for many 
writers), re-introduced a love of writing to me, and introduced an acceptance of bestowing a simple writing practice into my everyday. More on that below.
But I didn’t particularly enjoy my accidental follow-up – Thunder and Lightning. That book is designed to provide further tips for novel writers, but for me, wandered around too much. I require more structure than that provided in the approach in this book. After finishing Thunder and Lightning, I was left confused, although acknowledge I learnt much more of Natalie Goldberg’s life story after she first published Bones.
I moved onto Wild Mind, and returned to my own conscious writing. As a quickly published follow-up to Bones, the author wrote Wild Mind whilst in the midst of writing her own novel, “Banana Rose”. Through this, she uses examples from her own writing process (and confusion over things like what is plot) to really pinpoint the writing mind, particularly that wild mind that many new writers possess. There are a large quantity of short sections or chapters in this book, which can be delved into randomly or followed sequentially. Some will always be more relevant to the reader than others. And it’s worth – as with Writing Down the Bones – to return to Wild Mind at a later date, where you may well pick up something new again.
Much of what can be found in these chapters are examples and (sometimes random) thoughts out of the author’s life. Many of these thoughts are inspiring, motivational and sometimes very insightful. What particularly impressed me with Wild Mind is the end pages to many of the chapters – ‘Try This’ provides challenges or exercises to try in our writing practice.
My Thoughts on Writing Practice
My Own Thoughts on Writing Practice
What’s writing practice, then? Most writers already do this, but I always baulked at it. Having been embedded into morning pages by Julia Cameron and her book ‘The Artist’s Way’ (first published 1992), I soon found I just couldn’t maintain writing for a certain time or certain amount – every morning! Life didn’t work like that for me. Soon, missing out days of morning pages led to ahorrible guilt over not writing instead of celebrating my actual writing. And those pages I did manage to write were produced at a stage in my life where I was deeply depressed and angry over a certain life situation. My writing in those morning pages was less writing, and more a depressing self analysis and diatribe to my deeper and hostile feelings. You couldn’t even have called it successful therapy.
Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind puts writing practice back into the realm of a doable habit. Like Zen practice (Goldberg is a practising Zen Buddhist), writing practice becomes a natural state of mind. Natalie Goldberg doesn’t care if you miss out the practice one or two days, or can’t find a regular and consistent time period where it sits forever. In fact, Goldberg herself – in her wild writer’s mind – admits that her own writing practice sessions change over time – from mornings, to afternoons, evenings or at midnight. She – and the books – are more about producing a regular state where we practice and learn from our regular writings. Where we learn to accept and connect with our minds.
Getting into such a writing practice isn’t as easy as I initially thought. It’s not discussed until Wild Mind, but writing practice is different from journal writing.
Goldberg suggests that journal writing “has a fascination with the self, with emotion, and situation. It stops there.” Writing practice, she explains, “lets that and everything else run through us, in writing practice we don’t attach to any of it.”
That took me a little while to understand, as the author gives many examples regarding the reading back into her own notebooks (kept for 15 years before Writing Down the Bones documented the practice), and finding her own writing was full of dribble (my words, not hers) – complaints, depression, bad things from the day. Some of it could make for depressing self-analysis and reading, she readily admits herself.
It’s only from attempting my own writing practice, and implementing it with my eight year old daughter, that I begin to understand the difference. We put a timer on – 5 minutes, 10 minutes, even half an hour once (that’s a long time for an eight year old) and go.
And yes, some of my own writing is relatively dribble, full of complaints and my opinions from the day. But I’ve stepped away from it – the details are there in some places, but not the hurt or anger, even when noting down a complaint. When I do read back my work, I find that I am more interested in the writing rather than the contents and emotions. I’m not sure my daughter understands the difference – she still gets a thrill from having a private ‘diary’ that she writes in alongside of me, but which I’ve promised never to read unless she asks me to.
So, writing practice works for eight year olds, too. It is enough to see how proud she is, to simply sit in a cafe, or at home, writing alongside her writing mother.
Wild Mind Takeaways
Goldberg asks us to think about who we are writing for. Not long ago my normal response would have been that I write for myself. Through writing practice, I can see now how false this has become. I’m now writing for many other people other than myself. I’m practising writing to get to know my own writing better, and to eventually write and have published some of my writing. I’m writing for my daughter also – to show her that I’m not just a mother sitting at home, that I work at my writing. And to instil that work ethic into her also.
The lack of structure of the book – there is no links between one short chapter and the next – can sometimes put off some writers. As can some of the Zen stories, and name-dropping of writers who are friends of Goldberg. Much of Goldberg’s life is found within her books, showing perfectly the state of mind many writers live through. This wild mind metaphor works for me, as does writing around it – as a process, rather than product.
I actually enjoyed Wild Mind more than it’s predecessor, Writing Down the Bones, but as I read both together, tend to see both books as part of the overall picture.
Although the books may not appeal to all writers, there are some points which are really worth documenting and keeping to yourself. Alongside the guilt-free writing practice, and some interesting try this exercises in Wild Mind, the below are my take-aways.
Natalie Goldberg gives four things you must do in order to be a writer and do writing:
- keep your hand moving;
- lose control;
- be specific; and
- don’t think.
Lastly, her advice to would-be writers: “If you want to write, write. This is your life. You are responsible for it. You will not live forever. Don’t wait” (p. 45).
Wild Mind – Living the Writer’s Life
All of Natalie Goldberg’s books are available now as ebooks. My particular copy came via NetGalley’s Public Catalog, and Open Road Media Publishing. I have since purchased Writing Down the Bones, Wild Mind and Thunder and Lightning as e-books via Amazon’s Kindle store, and read all three via my iPAD.
You can learn more about Natalie Goldberg and purchase Wild Mind from the following video and in the following links you will find a brand new article written by Natalie on writing.
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