Natalie Burg's Blog, page 10
November 8, 2013
A breath of fresh humans for the lapsed extrovert
The hardest time to make a change is when you're pretty happy. I mean, why change if everything is good? The answer to this, of course, can range anywhere from the fact that things can get better to the fact that happiness is not the solution to all of life's problems. For my part, it's a little bit of both of those things.
November 6, 2013
Writing words that matter: “Everyone needs a god who looks like them”
I recently became the last person on the planet to read Sue Monk Kidd's Secret Life of Bees, and fell in love with it in a way I haven't fallen in love with a book in a long time. It was like discovering The Great Gatsby again for the first time, or To Kill a Mocking Bird, or A Prayer for Owen Meany. It became one of my favorite books, even before I'd read the last page.
As a writer, these experiences of falling in love with a book are particularly overwhelming. Not only is there excitement, infatuation and enjoyment, but also aspiration. I want to write like this. I want to make readers feel this way.
As a writer, these experiences of falling in love with a book are particularly overwhelming. Not only is there excitement, infatuation and enjoyment, but also aspiration. I want to write like this. I want to make readers feel this way.
November 5, 2013
Tiny hypocrisies and better haircuts
Recently, I wrote about the phenomenon of writers complaining about not being paid for their work by saying if you're a professional writer, producing professional-grade work, you'll get paid work. Because we do, actually, live in a world where vocational aptitude can and will be rewarded (most of the time). Most people will brains prefer the work of professionals, even when a service technically could be done by an amateur.
November 4, 2013
The top 6 reasons your book club should participate in November Bok Klubb Month
When you want people to click on links you make a meaningless list of items that are vaguely funny, right? Right. OK, so here is my Buzzfeed-esque reminder that it's Swedish Lessons Bok Klubb Month, y'all! You know you want to do it. 
November 1, 2013
November is Bok Klubb Special Month!
I promised a Swedish Lessons announcement today, and here it is! It's a Bok Klubb extravaganza all month! Interested in an author visit to your bok klubb? Get one for free during November with the purchase of seven or more books.* Fun!
*see details and restrictions below...
*see details and restrictions below...
October 31, 2013
Dressing up as Ourselves
We like to think of Halloween as a one-day hiatus from being ourselves. It's our chance to dress up like someone totally different from ourselves, to try on another life of a size. But who are we kidding? That's not how it works. Every costume I've ever seen reveals more about the person wearing it than it does disguise anything. Sometimes it well executed, revealing just how clever, creative or daring a person is. And at others, well, it exposes our insecurities, insensitivity and misunderstandings. 
October 30, 2013
Earning a Nintendo, and other money thoughts
My parents once did an awful and wonderful thing to me. I was, let's say 11-ish, and I really, really, really wanted a Nintendo. The price of a Nintendo at that time was $99. I earned a base allowance of $5 a week, plus a quarter for every load of laundry I folded. My parents told me that if I wanted something as frivolous as a Nintendo, I was going to have to earn it myself. And so, I started saving. And folding. 
October 29, 2013
Friday Announcement: Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
There is a lot to be excited about this weekend. First, Daylight Savings Times ends, meaning the Annual Best Night of Sleep Ever celebration is upon us. Plan your leisurely Sunday brunches accordingly. Also, for childless adult like myself who spend the second half of October pretending like Halloween is something they're going to do, the stress of that farce is officially over. As if those two things aren't exciting enough, this weekend kicks off a very exciting, month-long, Swedish Lessons-related event.
What is it?!
What is it?!
October 28, 2013
The non-controversy of writing for free
There's been a bit of buzz round the internet over the past few days about the apocalyptic scenario in which we writers find ourselves. Some people don't want to pay us, it seems, and some people are all in a huff about it.
It seems to have been kicked off by a New York Times opinion column titled, "Slaves of the Internet Unite." So it's pretty clear where that piece landed. It was funny, clever and established the skill and experience of the writer says he is constantly barraged with requests for free content. I found him charming, but his argument started going south for me around here:
It seems to have been kicked off by a New York Times opinion column titled, "Slaves of the Internet Unite." So it's pretty clear where that piece landed. It was funny, clever and established the skill and experience of the writer says he is constantly barraged with requests for free content. I found him charming, but his argument started going south for me around here:
October 25, 2013
Everything But the Writing
During a recent presentation to college students about entrepreneurship in the arts, I asked the class what they thought a freelance writer did with her time all day. Their guesses included "thinking about character development" and "writing," and bless their hearts, that would be amazing. But as any freelance writer can attest, the business of pitching stories, research, contacting sources, waiting for sources to call back and interviewing sources takes up the bulk of one's life. So much, in fact, that I often (or, rather, daily) find myself with this problem: I feel so accomplished by the time I finally hang up the phone after an interview call, that I'm all, "Done! I'm finished! Let's go fishing or whatever!"
