Natalie Burg's Blog, page 6
April 2, 2014
I’m Probably a Writer If… (I’ll take an old, clicky keyboard over a typewriter any day.)
Nine out of every ten cliches about writers threaten to make the cords connecting my eyeballs to my brain snap for eye rolling that is just. so. hard. Not only because they are cliches, but because I can't relate to them. Obsessing over typewriters. Being eccentric. Finding train travel romantic. Always needing more time to do everything. Always being in the middle of 14 books. Basically just being a ridiculous person. Every BuzzFeedish list titled, "You're Probably a Writer If..." leaves me saying, "Whelp, guess I'm 'probably' not a writer. According to this listicle."
I wonder how many of these things that we, as writers, simply emulate because we think they are writerly behaviors, not updating to jive with reality. For example, I do not have a romantic attachment to typewriters because I've never written a damn thing on a typewriter. Nor have I observed writers I admire doing so. I can't imagine how anyone from my generation truly feels differently. What does makes me nostalgic, what I would find romantic to bang out a novel on, is an old, IBM, click-clack keyboard.
I wonder how many of these things that we, as writers, simply emulate because we think they are writerly behaviors, not updating to jive with reality. For example, I do not have a romantic attachment to typewriters because I've never written a damn thing on a typewriter. Nor have I observed writers I admire doing so. I can't imagine how anyone from my generation truly feels differently. What does makes me nostalgic, what I would find romantic to bang out a novel on, is an old, IBM, click-clack keyboard.
April 1, 2014
Project Pivot: Breaking the rules to follow an idea
Where I come from, you finish what you start. Join a team; make every practice. Get an assignment; complete it on time. Start a book; finish the book. Say you're going to do whatever; do whatever until whatever is done. Those were the rule's in my mother's house, so those are the rules, at age 32, I still march to in my own house. Good training, Nancy.
I've recently stumbled upon a quandary with regard to these instincts. The project I started a few months ago, a new book, was being threatened by a series of things: a) I wasn't sure if I was up to the task of jumping, feet first into a long work of fiction, b) I was kind of procrastinating, c) I was hit with another idea that I got really excited about.
But following new ideas into the weeds with an open project pending isn't part of my programming. So I resisted. Maybe later. I said I'm doing this thing. So I'm doing it.
I've recently stumbled upon a quandary with regard to these instincts. The project I started a few months ago, a new book, was being threatened by a series of things: a) I wasn't sure if I was up to the task of jumping, feet first into a long work of fiction, b) I was kind of procrastinating, c) I was hit with another idea that I got really excited about.
But following new ideas into the weeds with an open project pending isn't part of my programming. So I resisted. Maybe later. I said I'm doing this thing. So I'm doing it.
March 28, 2014
4000 Years for Choice v. Hobby Lobby
I just lost -- nay, invested -- an hour of my Friday morning pawing through the 50 beautiful and informative designs of artist Heather Ault's 4000 Years for Choice project. I am enamored. These lovely pieces each describe a fascinating and important benchmark in the history of women's birth control choices.
connect_1024x1024Did you know Egyptians had a recipe for a contraceptive in 3000 BCE? I mean, it was made of fermented dough and crocodile poo, but still! Or that Plato and Aristotle were totally into family planning? I sort of have a crush on them right now.
connect_1024x1024Did you know Egyptians had a recipe for a contraceptive in 3000 BCE? I mean, it was made of fermented dough and crocodile poo, but still! Or that Plato and Aristotle were totally into family planning? I sort of have a crush on them right now.
March 27, 2014
Awesome things I don’t do
Sometimes I have a bit of an enthusiasm problem. I hear about a thing, I get excited about it, and I just sort of decide I'm a person who participates in it. I absorb it into my identity without actually executing the thing. There are just too many super cool things in the world and not enough time or energy for implementation. Maybe by listing some of them publicly I will pressure myself to do some of them. Or, at the very least, relieve myself of the guilt of pretending I do them, because look, I said it here once that I don't.
March 26, 2014
Don’t even try and rush me, Wednesday (A freelancer’s nail painting guilt)
Painting my nails on a Wednesday afternoon always feels a little scandalous. Never mind that the last 48 hours were an intense marathon of working from waking up through Daily Show time. Or the fact that painting my nails takes ten minutes, and I'lll go back to working when I'm done. It seems indulgent. And I feel guilty about it.
Even though freedom is the number one reason freelancers cite for choosing to work for themselves, it's difficult to get cozy with it.
Even though freedom is the number one reason freelancers cite for choosing to work for themselves, it's difficult to get cozy with it.
March 24, 2014
Why the #AmtrakResidency isn’t for me. (But thanks for sharing it with me, everyone on the whole internet.)
Confession: I don't get the Amtrak writer's residency thing. I know I'm supposed to be losing my mind over it, as I can clearly see the rest of the internet has. Numerous people have shared the link with me, excitedly pointing to this as possibly the best thing the internet has ever produced for me. And I'm just not interested.
Sorry! It's totally cool that everyone else is, but here's why I, a full-time, professional writer, won't be applying:
Sorry! It's totally cool that everyone else is, but here's why I, a full-time, professional writer, won't be applying:
March 18, 2014
Science and art; Fiction and non-fiction; Truth and beauty
Science just ripped my heart out. It is no secret that I have an intellectual blind spot when it comes to science. I know it matters, I'm glad other people are working on it, but my brain actually shrivels when I have to think about it. Five minutes of Ira Flatow and I will pass out. Driving on Friday afternoons is an actual death trap for me.
Regardless, just try and watch this video of scientist Andrei Dmitriyevich Linde learning the big news from this week that his theory about the Big Bang had been proven to be true without turning into a weepy mess, overcome with the emotional gravity of it all. I don't understand a thing about what happened science-wise, but human-wise, it is perhaps the most beautiful, meaningful moment the internet has has ever offered me. Particularly, this quote, from the emotionally overwhelmed scientist:
"I've always lived with this feeling [of] what if I am tricked? What if I believe in this just because it is beautiful?"
Regardless, just try and watch this video of scientist Andrei Dmitriyevich Linde learning the big news from this week that his theory about the Big Bang had been proven to be true without turning into a weepy mess, overcome with the emotional gravity of it all. I don't understand a thing about what happened science-wise, but human-wise, it is perhaps the most beautiful, meaningful moment the internet has has ever offered me. Particularly, this quote, from the emotionally overwhelmed scientist:
"I've always lived with this feeling [of] what if I am tricked? What if I believe in this just because it is beautiful?"
March 17, 2014
Leash training, freelancing and the art of improvisation
At 10am today, I was congratulating myself for being so on top of things on a Monday morning. Just two hours in, I had one task nearly done, and the rest so carefully planned that I was already reveling in my success. Wee! I'm the best at this!
It's now 1pm, and, like many Mondays, nothing has gone according to my brilliant plans and I'm failing at everything. Don't feel too sad for me. This happens all the time, and I (nearly) always pull it all off anyway. That's what freelancing is: working without a net. Building a parachute on the way down.
It's now 1pm, and, like many Mondays, nothing has gone according to my brilliant plans and I'm failing at everything. Don't feel too sad for me. This happens all the time, and I (nearly) always pull it all off anyway. That's what freelancing is: working without a net. Building a parachute on the way down.
March 13, 2014
Something Right
Bad decisions seem to travel in packs. Staying up too late to read. Turning off the alarm and sleeping in. Starting work late. Not responding to emails promptly. Ugh. I'm blaming it on the time change. So at least I can trace the inciting bad decision back to Benjamin Franklin. Thanks, Benji.
Eventually the cycle will stop and my ratio of poor decisions to logical ones will start tipping in the right direction. I think. I hope. But here's something to think about until then:
During the guest lecture Mike and I recently gave at Western Michigan University, I skipped out for a minute to use the bathroom while Mike was speaking. He was giving the students an overview of his cover gigs, and I could hear him play a bit of Drake's song, "Hold On, We're Going Home" from the hallway.
As I walked back in he was saying, "You might have noticed I changed the last line of the chorus from 'I know exactly who you could be' because, I mean, come on, Drake. Who are you to tell a woman who she should be?"
So I did that right. I married that guy. I can probably manage to replicate that kind of decision making this week. (There's 1.5 more days to this week left. I can do it.)
Eventually the cycle will stop and my ratio of poor decisions to logical ones will start tipping in the right direction. I think. I hope. But here's something to think about until then:
During the guest lecture Mike and I recently gave at Western Michigan University, I skipped out for a minute to use the bathroom while Mike was speaking. He was giving the students an overview of his cover gigs, and I could hear him play a bit of Drake's song, "Hold On, We're Going Home" from the hallway.
As I walked back in he was saying, "You might have noticed I changed the last line of the chorus from 'I know exactly who you could be' because, I mean, come on, Drake. Who are you to tell a woman who she should be?"
So I did that right. I married that guy. I can probably manage to replicate that kind of decision making this week. (There's 1.5 more days to this week left. I can do it.)
March 11, 2014
Swedish Lessons news, Swedish Lessons event!
...Well, time is a monster that moves differently depending on who is holding its leash, and to me, it seems like we've walked to Antarctica and back since Swedish Lessons came into being. Perhaps that's why, when I suddenly have a day full of book news, it feels like a delightful and startling event. Today, it's all that times two.
First, I'm absolutely giddy to share that Swedish Lessons was among the 19 books honored in the First Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards. Of more than 500 entries, Swedish Lessons was one of four Honorable Mentions in the Nonfiction category. If you'll notice, my name is first after the 1st and 2nd place lines, which could be because they're in alphabetical order, but WHO KNOWS?!
First, I'm absolutely giddy to share that Swedish Lessons was among the 19 books honored in the First Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards. Of more than 500 entries, Swedish Lessons was one of four Honorable Mentions in the Nonfiction category. If you'll notice, my name is first after the 1st and 2nd place lines, which could be because they're in alphabetical order, but WHO KNOWS?!
