Natalie Goldberg Quotes

The only way to learn writing is by writing. Talent, as charming as it sounds, amounts to no more than 12 per cent of the process. Work is 80 per cent. The remaining 8 per cent is 'luck' or 'zeitgeist' - in short, things that are not in our hands.

I think writing well takes a little bit of talent and an awful lot of work.

You become a great writer by writing.

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.

I came out with a book called The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life with Language. It's a book that describes how writing is a practice and how my teaching is part of that practice. I direct the writing and create books but underneath, there's always the river of practice happening. No good, no bad. Just do it.

If you wish to be a writer, write.

I have written ever since I knew mechanically how to do it.

No, I have to really focus, especially when I'm writing because I wanna be good at it.

I am always trying to write.

Give me good writing, and I'll play it all day.

You become a better writer by writing. You become a better travel writer by writing about travel.

Talent is required, but much of writing is a matter of craft, which develops with time, attention, patience and practice, like playing an instrument or learning to dance.

Because there is no better tool for writing than experience. It has very little to do with grammar and everything to do with knowing.

Songwriting is a muscle. The more you do it, the better you get at it.

Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing... the rest will follow.

Read a lot. Write a lot. Have fun.

I used to think it was hard to write, and I still find the process more or less unpleasant, but if I know what I'm doing it rattles along, then the rewrite whips it into shape rather quickly.

Favorite subject? I would have to say creative writing.

The main thing about writing is... writing. Sitting your butt down in the chair and doing the work.

If I did anything 'next', I would do writing.

When you're writing fiction or poetry... it really comes down to this: indifference to everything except what you're doing... A young writer could do worse than follow the advice given in those lines.

I write all the time - I write poetry, I love to write.

You won't make a living writing until you learn to write when you don't want to.

Doing interesting things and then writing about them is the best way to become a good writer.

I liked to write from the time I was about 12 or 13. I loved to read. And since I only spoke to my brother, I would write down my thoughts. And I think I wrote some of the worst poetry west of the Rockies. But by the time I was in my 20s, I found myself writing little essays and more poetry - writing at writing.