Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

By Kate Phillips 

 

When I discovered Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, she made becoming a writer seem possible—a lifeline when I didn't know any writers and no one I knew really supported my dream to become a writer.

 

 

Among all of her excellent advice for writing and creativity, Goldberg suggests using inexpensive notebooks so you feel "you have permission to write the worst junk in the world" in them using pens that allow you "to feel the connection and texture of the pen on paper". Many years later, I still use spiral notebooks that I "can fill quickly and afford another" using "fast-writing pens because your thoughts are also much faster than your hand".

 

These simple directives from Goldberg freed me from my fear of the blank page. I now had permission to write junk just as long as I wrote enough to fill a notebook every month. As it turned out, the more I wrote the less junk was in my notebooks.

 

I had a goal I could achieve, but I had to go on a quest to find the "perfect" pen and notebook to achieve it.

 

 

 My perfect pen turns out to be a Pilot V Ball with the tinted barrel so you can see the ink sloshing around. I write in blue or black ink with the fine nib which moves quickly across the page. I edit with the red pen with an extra fine nib.

 

I LOVE them! However, in the last year I have uncapped a couple of new pens from the boxes of 12 I order only to have black ink explode all over my hands and anything else nearby. Not sure why, after years without any problems, this is happening. It has not dampened my enthusiasm; I only buy the blue and red pens now and carefully open the black pens I already bought over the sink.

 

After trying out many brands, I found the 80 Sheet College Ruled Composition Book #730000 made by Fay Paper Products, sold in six solid colors, to be the notebook for me. When the chain drug store where I bought them stopped carrying them, I called the company directly, told them my story, and they let me buy a case. I was now a writer for the long haul!

 

My supply is dwindling—only enough for maybe one more year, but I like to be prepared—so I wanted to buy another case. To my dismay/horror, the company is out of business. (I'm sorry for all the employees. Thank you for your excellent work.)

 

I love these notebooks. I find them comforting, familiar, and sturdy. Now I have to go on another quest to find the next best thing.

 

Amazing how such simple tools can mean so much. And I have learned my lesson: I have ordered enough pens to last me for years; I request them as gifts; and I am spreading the word about them in hopes they become so popular they won't be discontinued. (This is not a paid endorsement. I just love these pens.)