Twenty years or so ago, I was trying to get serious about writing. I wasn't getting anywhere, and experienced what we commonly call "writer's block." A musician friend- Taylor Weaver- suggested I look into a book called "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg. Listening to taylor was one of the smartest things I have done in terms of writing (and a great deal more).

Ms. Goldberg is a poet who also teaches writing. She comes at it from a very holistic zen perspective. The book is a series of short essays on various topics related to the practice of writing. The emphasis is on practice, for good reason.

I read through the book, from one to three chapters an evening, and then meditated on what I had read. Then I went back through the book, a chapter at a time, and just practiced what was taught in that chapter for at least fifteen minutes (sometimes up to an hour) each day. I might spend a week on a chapter, or I might spend a month. The longer I spent working on writing, the easier it got. Much of it was garbage (see "Writing 101 - Everyone has Unpublishable Junk" ), but over time I began to find more good writing than bad. More importantly, the writing now came easily and I had far more confidence.

I have never met Ms. Goldberg. I hope to someday. I've written to tell her how much her book meant to me. I highly recommend it to all creatives, or anyone who just needs an outlet to explore who they are and how to approach life.