Beginner's mind, pen and paper

First thoughts

Writing as a practice

Composting

Artistic stability

A list of topics for writing practice

Fighting tofu

Trouble with the editor

Elkton, Minnesota: whatever's in front of you

Tap the water table

We are not the poem

Man eats car

Writing is not a McDonald's hamburger

Obsessions

Original detail

The power of detail

Baking a cake

Living twice

Writers have good figures

Listening

Don't marry the fly

Don't use writing to get love

What are your deep dreams?

Syntax

Nervously sipping wine

Don't tell, but show

Be specific

Big concentration

The ordinaryand extraordinary

Talk is the exercise ground

Writing is a communal act

One plus one equals a Mercedes-Benz

Be an animal

Make statements and answer questions

The action of a sentence

Writing in restaurants

The writing studio

A big topic: eroticism

A tourist in your own town

Write anyplace

Go further

Engendering compassion

Doubt is torture

A little sweet

A new moment

Why do I write?

Every Monday

More about Mondays

Spontaneous writing booths

A sensation of space

A large field to wander in

The goody two-shoes nature

No hindrances

A meal you love

Use loneliness

Blue lipstick and a cigarette hanging out of your mouth

Going home

A story circle

Writing marthons

Claim your writing

Trust yourself

The Samurai

Rereading and rewriting

I don't want to die

Epilogue

Afterword : An interview with the author

Natalie Goldberg in her own voice.