Rach's Reading Club

Oh dear, oh dear.

I am a fan of books on writing. Numbering among my favorites are Stephen King's "On Writing" and Rita Mae Brown's "Starting from Scratch." The book I read for May's requirement is "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg. Please note it will not be listed among my favorite books on writing.

This book has been on my shelves for years. I don't even remember when I bought it, which probably means it's been there, unread, for ten plus years.

It seems to me that the book follows no real path. Many of the chapters are very short. Being a (mostly) diligent reader, I trudged through the first half and skimmed over the second half. There's good reason for this. The topic is writing. Or maybe the topic is this writer's writing life (not mine; hers.)

Each chapter pretty much says the same thing: Write. Make it a practice. Make it fun. Notice. Do it even if you don't want to. Find ideas to write about. Travel. Don't travel. Edit. Don't edit too soon!

There's one thing I ask for in anything I read: be interesting. I don't care if it's quirky or dirty or flowing, glowing prose. Just please don't be boring.

I wouldn't say the book is a total loss. There are some hidden gems.

You'll have to dig for them.