Writing Like Natalie Goldberg

Undertaking a writing challenge by the famous author.

Photo courtesy of the author.

I love to partake in a great writing challenge that tests my creativity and aids in my development as a writer.

In the past, I’ve participated in literary events like the quarterly National Journal Writing Month (NaJoWriMo) held in January, April, July, and October, or the annual National Novel Writing Month held every November. I’ve also written poems as part of National Poetry Month in April. During 2020, I wrote, recorded, and published a video of me reciting a haiku every day of the calendar year.

Most recently, I discovered a new challenge after reading Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones: to fill every page of an entire notebook for 30 days or one month. That’s what I did starting Sunday, 24 April 2022.

Photo courtesy of the author.

My initial thought going into this event was This will be a piece of cake, Bill. You got this! Unfortunately, my arrogance led to overconfidence. I didn’t consider external factors that could affect my mood like having a bad day at either my full-time or part-time job or injuring my lower back from exercise the weekend before my thirty-day deadline on…