Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice by Natalie Goldberg is the latest book by a classic author of books about writing. This book seems to be a memoir of getting through the pandemic and through several writer’s block. The author visits literary sites and gathers inspiration along the way. The vignettes in the book felt disjointed and a bit rambling. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

In Writing on Empty, Goldberg shares her personal journey from creative paralysis due to the disruption of the pandemic and her struggle to return to writing. As one who previously had not struggled to have words flow, she describes why her normal go-to sparks didn’t work. She shares her forays into new routines and making different connections as she tries to return to the practice of writing. Goldberg illustrates how even a prolific writer can become empty.

Writing on Empty ends with a writer’s guide reminiscent of Writing Down the Bones in large part. This Road Map echoes Goldberg’s journey.
This is a book useful for those who have had creative lives torn open and emptied. For those who are not sure how to begin again. Writing on Empty is a guide to practice writing and life.

As a writer and aspiring author, I found Goldberg's perspective and insights to be quite intriguing. I went into this expecting a guide to writing with writer's block, how to stay motivated, that kind of thing. The book in reality is more of the author's experience in the pandemic and she spends most of it critiquing with some negative opinions. This isn't a memoir or a self-help, rather a couple of her stories bunched with her opinions and rant about it. What i found the most helpful was the section towards the end featuring some writing prompts.

Although I've been recommended Goldberg's books for many years, this is the first one I finally got the chance to read. Once I finished, I immediately got started on the previous books. It wasn't really what I was expecting, but I really appreciated the insights from her personal story. Her honest and candid account of her struggle to continue writing was both inspiring and encouraging. I'd of course recommend it to writers and other creative folks, but I really think anybody would enjoy it.

A beautiful and important piece of work that speaks to the vulnerability and bravery that comes with writing,

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Writing on Empty by Natalie Goldberg is a writing guide for finding your inner voice, or so it is marketed. Because it is marketed as a writing guide, I had expectations that there would be lots of writing tips and tricks inside, but instead it's a mix of Natalie's experiences during COVID and the things she did to find inspiration. I didn't mind her telling her stories but her experiences felt so distant, like imaginary and dramatic almost. There's a part in the book where she visits Langston Hughes gravesite and makes a promise to him about writing but I feel like that is so far-fetched. Like, I mean I guess that sounds cool to do, but it just felt dramatic, why not just make a promise to yourself about being a better writer? Yeah idk.

I did enjoy the Writing on Empty Road Map: Writing Instructions at the WAY BACK of the book. I feel like if this was a the beginning of the book, I could have referenced it and followed the stories a lot better because then I'd know what to look for.

It was interesting and enjoyable, I just was wished that there were more tips for writing is all.

Thank you to St. Martin Essential's and Net galley for this ARC!

DNF at around 40%. Goldberg can write, but her writing was annoying me. I liked the idea of visiting significant places associated with famous writers she admired - like an American, she took her interest (literary) and turned it into a road trip. But she tends to make overarching comments, full of a hopeful naïveté and optimism that stemmed from people being housebound during COVID and pretending that being horrified about racial injustice was enough.

WRITING ON EMPTY : A Guide to Finding Your Voice by Natalie Goldberg allowed the author to articulate her experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as it related to struggling to write and processing the reality of aging. 

The frequent focus on personal musings made the book feel more like a memoir than a guide, which wasn't what I was expecting, and the anecdotes overshadowed the broader message I was hoping to take away.

That said, Goldberg ends the book with "A Writing on Empty Road Map: Writing Instructions," which I found the most valuable piece and more of what I was expecting when I picked up the title. The road map is broken into ten sections, which mirror the ten parts of the book. I would rather have had each section immediately follow the relevant section in the book, as it could then offer natural writing exercises at ten points, rather than holding them all to the end.

(Thank you St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.)

Natalie Goldberg was stuck, saddened, and stymied. As the global pandemic continued to reap a seemingly endless toll, a beloved writer and teacher--could not find her way back to the easy flow of her pen.

"Writing on Empty: A Field Guide to Finding Your Voice" is Goldberg's experience of losing her own writing voice and the curious efforts she underwent to regain it.

The field guide portion readers might find more applicable to their own creative voices and lives is located in the back of the book. Detailed and well-laid out, I would love to make greater use of it, if the tone of the book rang less hollow and uncharacteristically off-putting.

Perhaps future editions could temper the language regarding computer and internet usage. All writers ages 50+ (and/or Goldberg fans) are not in agreement that we live in some vast, metal wasteland due to technological advances.

Ironic, considering technology assisted in maintaining human connections, boosted book sales (about 10% in 2020 and in 2021), and led to even more people participating virtually at the Zen Center where Goldberg practices and teaches during COVID-19.

Thank you to Natalie Goldberg, MacMillan Publishers, and NetGalley for the eARC and patiently reading.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was wonderful!

As an aspiring author, I love reading books on writing to see other author’s ideas, methods and inspiration. This book was interesting and had valuable insights for any author.

When I was trying to find my writer’s voice, way back when I was in my 20s, I found Natalie Goldberg. In the decades since, I have gone back to her Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind over and over. She is an inspiring and grounded writing teacher, and I was looking forward to getting into her new book. When I saw that she read the audio book herself, I knew that was how I wanted to experience this book. And I’m so glad I did.

While I love Goldberg’s instructional books, filled with beautiful prose and mindful compassion, this book is especially personal, and hearing it read by the author took it to a new level. Writing on Empty isn’t really what the subtitle says (A Guide to Finding Your Voice), but it is about Goldberg’s journey through a dry spell and how she found her voice again. After twenty-some books that flowed from her easily, she hit a wall (she refuses to use the term “writer’s block”) and wasn’t sure what to write next. Or if she was going to write again. Clearly, she got past that, as we’re able to read this book, but it was not an easy journey for her.

Writing on Empty starts with the pandemic, when Goldberg was alone and stuck at home. She had no classes to teach, no students to leave. She was just home, day after day, going stir crazy. And eventually she realized that this was how her mother felt. As a child, Goldberg didn’t have a great relationship with her mother, and the more she was stuck at home with nothing to do and nowhere to go, the more she could understand her mother, who found herself stuck at home as a young woman expected to take care of her husband, children, and home.

Finally, the pandemic was less dangerous, vaccines were available, and places started to open up again. Goldberg found herself traveling, meeting strangers, and visiting graves. After wanting to go for 30 years, she finds herself in Idaho, the place where Ernest Hemingway is buried. She found his gravestone, between two pine trees, and poured her heart out to him. She thought about her history with his books and how they moved her. She feels like he gives her some advice after it all, “Get going.” And she does.

She struggles to write her new book about the problems that technology may be causing us, but she rediscovers her love of reading by reading Bill Buford’s book about cooking in France. She takes a trip to her favorite lake to find it drained and sets out to find out why. She meets up with a writer friend and works on memory puzzles. She remembers her high school English teacher and what he would think of her current writing. And she thinks back to when she first decided she wanted to be with women instead of men.

While walking back through her life and keeping her hands moving on the page, Goldberg was able to write again. Writing on Empty is the result. Part memoir, part love letter to words, it’s a compelling reminder of how writing—and life—require you to keep showing up. It’s a guide to finding your voice only by example, as Goldberg’s curiosity and insights that lead her back to her writing can serve as a vague roadmap to others who are struggling to find their voice. But it’s not specifically instructional as a traditional writing book, and I think that the publisher let her down and let us down by adding that subtitle to the work.

I loved listening to Goldberg herself narrate this book, especially the stories about her mother, which I think were more poignant told by the author herself. Since this book had so many personal stories, hearing it in Goldberg’s voice brought an intimacy to the book that I wasn’t expecting. But it was moving and smart and heartbreaking and honest, much like the rest of Goldberg’s books, and it will take up space in my head for some weeks to come.

A copy of the audio book for Writing on Empty was provided by Macmillan Audio, and egalleys were provided by St. Martin’s Press, both through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I love how Natalie shares to us about her personal journey living in pandemic era that is not really easy. This is like an opportunity for her to find her own voice in such a devastating time. I hope that I can find my voice, too.

I can only blame myself for my expectations. I am a student of Natalie Goldberg, having read, re-read, underlined, highlighted, and pored over WRITING DOWN THE BONES. I was expecting much the same with WRITING ON EMPTY. I had hopes of a specific how-to guide with some writer inspiration added for good measure. This book is more of a memoir in which Goldberg shares her personal story about a stall-out in writing during COVID. Her vivid descriptions of this time brought back memories. The very end does contain some writing prompts. I also loved the reference to Hemingway’s grave and the message she received there to get going again.

I plan to read this book again, for the author is telling her story of being led back to her own voice after two years of sitting in silence. During that time of quiet, she read and talked, and she did write. She wrote about the empty time. The primary advice that Natalie offers is to practice and then practice some more.

Title: Writing on Empty
Author: Natalie Goldberg
Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Natalie Goldberg has been writing for the past fifty years. But at the beginning of the pandemic, she suddenly wasn’t able to write anymore. Her imaginative wellspring had dried up, and she was forced to ask herself: what do I do when what has always worked for me doesn’t work anymore?

In this beautifully written, inspiring personal account, Natalie shares her harrowing journey out of creative paralysis and back onto the page. When all of her tried and true methods – meditation, sitting still, writing practice – stopped working, she had to take drastic action. She got into her car and left New Mexico in search of a new inventive source. In her journey through the western states, she visited famous literary sites, searching for the spark that would reignite her ability to write.

If you’re looking for something to inspire you to write, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for something about fear, whining, and lots of self-absorption, you’re in luck. There were no tips to get you past a creative block, just…yeah, whining. Sorry, this was beyond a disappointing read to me.

Natalie Goldberg is a bestselling author. Writing on Empty is her newest book.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Writing on Empty by Natalie Goldberg is phenomenal. This is a remarkable book. Her approach is different from other books on writing.
Natalie's writing is so refreshing and full of enthusiam about writing.
A must-read for anyone who is experiencing writers block, or who simply wants to write more often!

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Essentials for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book felt like it didn't know what is was supposed to be. It's definitely not a "guide to finding your voice" as the subtitle suggests. I was shocked that the same Zen Buddhist who wrote Writing Down the Bones wrote this meandering text about the problems with younger people and technology. This stream of consciousness memoir jumps back and forth between her youth, the paralyzing years of Covid, and the lingering reality of death, but doesn't say much beyond privileged navel-gazing.

As an older writer myself, I appreciated Natalie Goldberg's chronicles of her stretch of creative darkness and how she overcame it. This book hit me in two different ways - first as a an eye-opening look into what it feels like for a creative to lose their muse, so to speak. A vital part of self is suddenly missing. I also appreciated that the author discusses the journey to finding the creative spark again. I think many people view creativity as a young person's endeavor, which is not at all true, but society would like us to think that creativity is for the youth. I appreciated Ms. Goldberg's voice in this space as an older writer as it provides a wiser and unique perspective. Highly recommend this book for any writer or creative person who is looking to rekindle a spark, or for anyone who enjoys glimpses into minds of highly creative people.

I would love to rate this and tell you all about it. But alas, it's a St. Martin's Press title and I'm boycotting them for their lack of response to racist and misinformed remarks their employee made concerning Palestine.

Sucks for them for not being better humans and running a better publishing house. Generic three-star rating because I have to.

I've been interested in writing since my first short story attempt written in loopy penciled cursive in the third grade. I have notebooks filled with daily reflections. I have even recently used Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck of writing prompts. I was very interested in reading about how she would handle a dry time during the pandemic.

The part of this book I liked the best was her time in Port Townsend. I live on an island just a ferry ride away and appreciate the opportunities the PNW offers for reflective writing with its views of ocean and mountains. I appreciate Goldberg breaking through her silence by writing about memories and her daily events, such as the books she read, the walks she took, and the people she talked to, while adding interesting additional information. I like her comments about the internet too.

This is a good book for people who would like to read an example of reflective writing. It is also good for those who have come to a point of wondering the reason for their writing. You find good encouragement and a road map to continue to put pen to paper.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.