I enjoyed this book, although after the first few chapters I found it to be slower going. However, Natalie writes with an honesty that is compelling, capturing both ups and downs, successes and limitations, and yet the overall sense of how writing has become the core of her life, the one thing she is 100% committed to. It’s uplifting to see that commitment.

I also took away several useful bits of advice about writing—both how to structure time to achieve writing and how to write past self-consciousness to the “good stuff”.

Honestly, it didn’t do much for me in the way of actually helping me write. The chapters were short, so they were easy to get through, but it was more like a weird memoir than writing advice from one writer to another. I did like the “one-minute poems” idea Goldberg would do at fairs and festivals, though. Reminds me of ten-minute plays.

I became a better writer because of this book. Instead of over-analyzing every line, I learned to write freely, and love the process. This book came to me in a moment when I most needed it, and gave me the courage to be a writer. I am indebted to this book, and read it at least once a year.

I could hardly get through this, and was finally able to only by skipping paragraph after paragraph. Intensely repetitive (she prefers quantity over quality, and refuses to let anyone forget it). I can’t see wanting to follow her advice when her own writing is full of irrelevant tangents and dull personal anecdotes. And speaking of which: she makes several odd comments revealing her bitterness toward marriage/divorce, which leads one to believe that her writing isn’t as cathartic for her as she’d like to think, and perhaps ought to invest in a professional therapist.

I keep diaries, online and paper, and every waking moment, the way I think is the way I want to write. I dip into Natalie’s book now and again and remember to relax about writing, to trust my inner voice and let it flow out of me. I try to apply that to my acting and life in general: it’s almost a philosophy book.

I found the book helpful, despite Goldberg’s personal oddities. But maybe that is what it takes to succeed as a poet in Minnesota.

How come none of the people who read this book on how to write have written anything here?
Love it!