Theme Of Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within

From the very beginning of Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg the theme of the novel becomes very apparent, freedom. She uses a variety of chapter length and themes in order to get her theme across. From the introduction of the book Goldberg begins to tell of her experiences of having to conform to the expectations of her teachers when writing. She says, “I wrote compositions with clear sentences that were dull and boring. Nowhere was there an original thought or genuine feeling.” (Goldberg, 1). She wrote to please her teachers instead of to express her thoughts. As she delves into the third chapter, First Thoughts, her theme of freedom takes the centerstage. She writes a list of how to write. She states that the writer must “lose control” and not “get logical” (8). By telling the writer not to confine to the standards that they are originally taught, she creates a new precedent. Instead of writing “safely” one must go outside the lines and create a new style.

In order to write freely one must be able to write often but not feel forced to write everyday. She says that one has to “fight the tofu” (25). She believes that getting through a writing block is like getting through tofu, a dense substance made from soybeans. She says that in order to get through the tofu the writer must analyse their feelings. “If those characters in you want to fight, let them fight.” (25), by letting them fight the writer lets their thoughts freely flow out. Goldberg tells the writer to listen to their heart when writing. Instead of writing something to please the reader she invites them to write what they really want to. Let the characters become real and raw will eventually make the end product better than when one tries to please the teacher or reader. By doing so Goldberg advises the writers once again to be free with their