What lights your fire, feeds your passion, pushes your writing self beyond yourself?

If you don’t know the answer to that, spend some time finding out before you write.

Have you read any of Natalie Goldberg’s books on writing. If not, you have a treat in store for you. She will open a path to a whole new way of thinking for you as a writer.

Start with Writing Down the Bones. Devour that book. Make it your companion as you practice your writing. I’m reading another of her books: Wild Mind, Living the Writer’s Life now. Fantastic! Every time she says “try this” in that book, try it. You’ll come out a better writer—a deeper, a wilder writer—as a result.

I’m not going to give you any great writing advice today. But, I will tell you what Natalie says about Wild Mind.

The great expanse of the huge open sky above you is what she gives an example of Wild Mind. We all have the opportunity to live and create in that Wild Mind, but instead we live on a tiny dot in that huge sky and listen to our monkey mind chatter away at us. In order to tap into the Wild Mind—the passion that stirs our creative souls—we must move beyond that small dot—that monkey mind that dictates all the shoulds of our lives—and connect with our own creativity.

Read the books. You won’t regret it.