Thursday, July 22, 2010

Spanx... Why I need them.

For our male followers you may or may not have heard of Spanx. Spanx is a torture device specifically for women which attempts to make them look better than they are in real life. But mostly it just suffocates them.

In the pursuit of looking better women will suffer a great amount of pain. There is waxing, spending hours under a hot dryer with tinfoil in your hair, three inch open toe stilettos… I could go on.

But for me Spanx is an all time low. I commented regarding Eileen’s dress drama that I was choosing to torture myself rather than go up a size. I mean come on! Sure I could lose the weight, but sitting on my ass all day during my day job and drinking wine all night while I unwind from day job would both have to go.

I would rather torture myself with Spanx right now.

But all this said I am going to try and tie this into writing. It’s about being honest with yourself. (How is that for a segue?) When Molly posted about the two “cage match” books I went a little crazy talking about the Forbidden Rose because I am in awe of this woman’s talent. I see the way she uses words and my jaw drops.

I want to be her. I want to write like that. So I spent the next day writing trying to be oh so clever with my word choice, and tried to make every sentence the most amazing sentence it could be. I wanted to be smooth and flawless and effortless…

I wanted this immediately. Just like I want to be a size smaller.

Only becoming smaller can’t be done with Spanx. And writing better can’t be done overnight after reading one really terrific book. Both can only be done with hard work and over time.

Sometimes that really sucks.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It does suck. I tried Spanx, for my brothers wedding, 6 weeks after giving birth. All the spanx did was push all the flab up to wierd places. Do they do an all body spanx?

Molly O'Keefe said...

Ha! spanx as a writing lesson - I love it and hate it.

I get a little nuts about the people that inspire me too, and I spend a few days after reading a particularly good book trying to imitate them. It stalls me out. Stops me dead. so, then I stop thinking about Susan Elizabeth Phillips and get back to writing.

I've had about the craziest ten days a person can have without real tragedy. Baby stopped napping and then lost her mind and stopped sleeping, my agent wasn't totally in love with the work I sent her, a door fell on me ensuring that I will look beautiful in my sleeveless dress, we didn't get in the daycare we needed for next year. Haven't written a word. A virus ate my inbox, my mailing list and all my contacts and then shut down my computer. But I read Dead Tossed Waves - which amazed me. And I lost five pounds. So, it's all okay? Am I that sick? A good book and five pounds makes it all okay? Apparently.

karen W said...

Hugs, Molly. It has been a week for me as well.

But five pounds would make me want to celebrate.

I'm reading Dead Tossed Waves right now.

Another FAB YA book I just read (and can't stop thinking about) is Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeiffer. I've bought the next two in the series and will read them soon. OMG, what a book.

Steph, I too own and have a love/hate relationship with Spanx. I only wear them when I have to. Nuff said!

Stephanie Doyle said...

5 pounds!!!! You bitch.

A door could fall on my head leaving me an amnesiac but still I would know to be happy about dropping 5 pounds!

Seems like it's been a tough week all around for everyone. Here is to next week being better. Even for Karen and Sinead who can't be there. (We'll toast you guys)

I had a choice last week of getting caught up on my revisions... or reading The Forbidden Rose... obvious choice.

And I just bought the Sherry Thomas so I'll let you know how I think they compare.

Sunday will be "outfit" day figuring out what goes and what doesn't.

Can a human body lose 5 pounds in 4 days???

I just read an article that says it's not the wine I'm drinking or the fact that I'm only getting exercise in 3 days a week that's causing my weight problem.

It's apparently the pesticides on the apples I'm eating. That apple a day is messing with my hormones and making my ass grow apparently.

Who knew? Guess I'll stick to French Fries.

Maureen McGowan said...

Oh, loving this comment thread.

Molly, I can't believe the time you're having right now. Like Steph says, next week will be better.

And above and beyond all the talk about weight and Spanx and pre-conference anxiety, Steph made a really great point about expecting instant results without putting in the hard work.

I think too many writers (and even more so, wanna be writers) expect that it'll all happen overnight with zero work. In hindsight, I kind of did. Well, not zero, just not as much work as it has proven to take.
A never ending learning and continuous improvement process is this writing thing. ;)

Maureen McGowan said...

Karen, thanks for the rec about the YA. And damn you. Well, not damn you, per se... But reading the description of her book makes me realize the premise of my current WIP isn't as fresh and original as I'd hoped... Damn. Damn. Damn.

Eileen said...

The only time I've ever lost five pounds in a week was when I gave birth.

As to my love/hate relationship with Spanx . . . girl's best friend or hideous torture device? Basically, it's two great tastes that taste great together. I love that they can smooth out those little lumps and bumps that ruin the line of a dress. I hate that by the end of the evening, all I want is to breathe.

Now to bring that back to writing! Analyzing the writing of someone whose work I admire can help me smooth out the lumps and bumps in my own work, but if I try to take on their style entirely, it suffocates my own voice and creativity.

Karen W said...

Sorry Maureen. I didn't know. It's so hard to get fresh and original these days.

Just like it's more and more difficult to lose weight the older you get. Nuff said.

You guys had better take LOTS of pics and either text them to me (Steph) or email them to me (everyone else). Maybe Sinead and I will set up a whiners blog so we can complain about you guys having all the fun!

Stephanie Doyle said...

Ooooh good one about studying someone else's talent vs. copying someone else's talent.

I try to keep telling myself that. Just be me. I can be me and be good.

I can. I can.

Then you get a rejection and the despair kicks in...

I can't. I can't. I'll never be good enough.

Tell me why we do this again?

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