Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice
memoir · First published 2024
Author guide
Natalie Goldberg Books in Order
Natalie Goldberg is an American writer and teacher whose work combines writing practice, Zen Buddhism, memoir, poetry, and visual art. She is best known for Writing Down the Bones, a foundational guide to writing as a practice. Her bibliography includes writing guides, memoirs, a novel, poetry and painting books, and books about haiku and creativity. She has practiced Zen for decades and taught writing workshops internationally.
nonfictionmemoirwriting craftpoetryliterary fictionZen and Buddhismvisual art
Catalog record updated .
Natalie Goldberg's Newest Book
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
The best introduction to Goldberg's writing practice and Zen-influenced approach.
Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America
A strong entry point for her memoir and Zen biography.
Banana Rose
Her sole published novel.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (8)
- Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
nonfiction · 1986
For more than twenty years Natalie Goldberg has been challenging and cheering on writers with her books and workshops. In her groundbreaking first book, she brings together Zen meditation and writing in a new way. Writing practice, as she…
- Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life
nonfiction · 1990
Natalie Goldberg, author of the bestselling Writing Down The Bones, teaches a method of writing that can take you beyond craft to the true source of creative power: The mind that is "raw, full of energy, alive and hungry." Here is…
- Banana Rose
novel · 1995
The bestselling novel from the beloved author of Writing Down the Bones, Wild Mind, and Long Quiet Highway is now available in paperback for the first time. With a half-million copies in print of her three remarkable books of nonfiction,…
- Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World
nonfiction · 1996
- Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer's Craft
nonfiction · 2001
- Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir
nonfiction · 2007
“Memoir writers, buy this book, put it on your personal altar, or carry it with you as you traverse the deep ruts of your old road.” —Tom Spanbauer, author of The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon Old Friend from Far Away teaches writers…
- The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life and Language
nonfiction · 2013
The author draws on her teaching background to share new writing guidelines and outline the steps for a personal or group writing retreat, providing coverage of such topics as working in silence and writing without criticism.
Nonfiction (5)
- Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America
memoir · 1993
- The Great Failure: My Unexpected Path to Truth
memoir · 2004
One of America's favorite teachers, Natalie Goldberg has inspired millions to write as a way to develop an intimate relationship with their minds and a greater understanding of the world in which they live. Now, through this honest and…
- The Great Spring: Writing, Zen, and This Zigzag Life
memoir · 2016
"What does it take to have a long writing life? Drawing her years of writing, teaching, and practicing Zen, Natalie Goldberg shares the experiences that have opened her to new ways of being alive, experiences that point the way forward in…
- Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home: A Memoir
memoir · 2018
- Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice
memoir · 2024
Poetry (2)
- Chicken and In Love
poetry · 1980
- Top of My Lungs: Poems and Paintings
poetry · 2004
Presents poems on the shifting rhythms of interior life and the connection of all things in a collection that features reproductions of the author's original artwork.
Other (1)
- The Essential Writer's Notebook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Better Writing
workbook · 2001
This beautiful notebook, illustrated by the author's own paintings, provides the perfect opportunity for would-be writers, as well as those seeking a fresh approach to their work, to learn simple techniques that will help them master the…
