First thoughts on the second half of Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, starting with Sipping Wine. You can see my thoughts on the first half, which ended with Sipping Wine, in the post Goldberg, First Ideas.
In the class on Friday, 4/1/22, we did some journal writing. Most of the class read from their writing. I chose not to, my thoughts were still formulating. As I read this last half of Goldberg, I had 3 things from my Friday’s class notes on my mind:
- Ekphrastic – the original meaning was “telling in full”. The more modern definition is “a self-contained description, often on 2 common place subjects, which can be inserted at a fitting place in discourse.”
- Stone – the object I chose from Dr. Hudson’s office. A common place object, often overlooked, it is pulled from the earth. My stone is symbolically two common subjects linked metaphorically.
- Window – A medium through which our mind transports us to another place.
I’m not explaining that well here, I had no chance of explaining it in class. I’ll occasionally make references to these.
Start of 2nd Half Review
I’m going to put page numbers where I found ideas that I feel are worthy of noting. I’m doing this for myself. I intend to return every so often and reread.
p. 72 Russell Edson emphasizes the importance of first sentences. Write these down, along with a short piece, return later. Maybe choose one to expand upon.
p. 74 Take chances. You’ll succeed only if you take chances
p. 75 Don’t Tell, but Show
p. 77 Be Specific
p. 82 {Window} using details to step through to the other shore
p. 84 Talk is a window to great material
p. 85 {Window} Talk about the ordinary can be a conduit to writing that is extraordinary simply in the telling.
p. 88 My blog can be one of the most basic, and effective, ways to self publish.
p. 89 {Window} become what it is you are seeing, express it in your writing
p. 90 As with an animal, move slowly, stalk your prey. This is how I naturally approach most of what I do. Let the writing percolate.
p. 98-102 There’s an art to choosing the right restaurants in which to write…
p. 113 Write. When you’re done, write a little more.
p. 123 Hemingway. Not the why, but the what.
p. 133 I disagree with “write a lot of forms”. I say, write. Write without regard to what form it may be taking. When done, look to discover what form it has taken.
p. 139 I qualify what I just noted on p.133. I’m finding I’m grazing in different fields of writing. I don’t always like the taste, at least at first. I was further reminded of something Aunt Jean told me…
Aunt Jean – an excellent writer an avid reader – once told me that when she was first married she hated olives. Her mother-in-law told her, “if you eat 8 olives, you will love them for the rest of your life”. Aunt Jean choked down a couple, then a couple more, then… she loved them to her dying day.
p. 140-140 The chapter speaks to me. “Rules” are lost on me, I break them from the start. This song came to mind:
I drink when I’m hungry,
I eat when I’m dry
I’m always hungry and
I’m never dry.
Hallelujah, I’m a bum
Hallelujah, bum again
Hallelujah, give a handout and
Revive me again
p. 147 Food is a stone for me. Go to food when you cannot think of anything to write about. Food is filled with metaphor, as I look at my egg cooking, I see the morning sun breaking through fluffy white clouds. I have only to look at my Facebook posts, rarely a week goes by without posting about food.
p. 150 Loneliness is my window, transporting what’s inside my mind to the outside physical world around me.
p. 152-155 Going Home. In nearly all my writing, I find something from the time I can recall my very first memories thru the time I left home to go off to college.
Write sentences, or very short paragraphs, and stick those in notes. Better yet, in a private post. Review these from time to time, there’s a story there waiting to be told.
p. 159 Kathleen has us form a circle, every class becomes a “story circle”. Have a better awareness of this, record the stories that form from the images in my brain as I listen to my budding fellow student writers.
p. 164 Claim Your Writing
p. 167 Trust Yourself
p. 170 Alan Ginsberg was asked, “How come you don’t criticize work more?” His response was, “Why bother talking about something you don’t like?” I’ve received virtually no responses, not even very many simple “Likes” on my Facebook post to a link to my Short Story, A Woman Named Stephanie. I’m going to re-post that link and use Ginsberg’s quote as a possible reason I’ve had a paucity of responses.
p. 172-176 I made numerous revisions to my recent short story submission, after submission. A powerful tool, available to anyone posting online with WordPress, is the plugin Yoast SEO (I subscribe to Premium, but the basic is good and it’s free). Search Engine Optimization moves your post, and blog, up in Google rankings. Many, perhaps these days most or all, of what Google looks for is what publishers look for and what readers demand.
Goldberg says to look for what gives your work energy, makes it hot. These are the same things that ranks your work high among search engine rankings.
p. 177-178 I don’t want to die. I made a note, this last chapter is “worth re-reading”.
I’m going to do a very quick re-reading, then make this my submission. It will then be also available as a post on my blog. I intend to give this a day or two, then re-visit and pull perhaps the top 5 things from my above list.
