Stating the Obvious

Sometimes in my writing, I get comments from others (cp's, agent, editor) that read something like "this is obvious, you don't need the rest of the ________." Usually, it's from dialogue explaining an emotion when I've already implied it with action or vice versa. I am working on a rewrite of a proposal right now and came across one of those type situations yesterday and it made me think that once again, fiction has to be more realistic than life. Because in life, people LOVE stating the obvious. People go OUT OF THEIR WAY to state the obvious.

Take my weight for instance. Okay, so I'm overweight and need to eat better and exercise (for like, fifty years). But it never fails that when I see someone I haven't seen in a long time, they inevitably say something like "Jana, you've gained weight."

Every time this happens, I am so tempted to widen my eyes, stare at them in horror, then start inspecting myself inch by inch and finally culminate in tears as I come to the fake realization that I'm fat. What do you think - sound like fun?

C'mon people. Overweight people know they're overweight. I'm hoping all of us bathe so that's a pretty good indication of body form. Then there's the drying off part and most bathrooms have a mirror. And if that one doesn't clue you in, there's always the ever increasing difficulty of painting your own toenails. For you skinny women out there just remember being pregnant and you get the idea.

Then there's the games that overweight people play - and they amuse me too. Like wearing black all the time. Once again, c'mon people. Black is indeed "slimming." I'm not going to disagree. But let me ask you this - if black takes off ten pounds, but you need to loose eighty, who are you fooling? I wear what I want to wear - bright colors, prints, sleeveless shirts. What the heck is the difference?

Ultimately, I need to drop my weight because I will feel better and have more energy - quite frankly, I need more energy so that I sleep less and can write more. Also, I love clothes shopping and it isn't as fun when you're big. Even worse, I turned the big 4 - 0 yesterday and I refuse to be fat in my 40's.

So today is the first day I attempt to eat right and give a little exercise a whirl. Nothing demanding, mind you - just a little walking to build up stamina. Maybe swim a couple of laps in the pool. The idea of skipping eggs and bacon and having fruit and cereal instead has already got me giddy with excitement. Oh, wait, that wasn't stating the obvious at all.......that would be lying, which I might cover in my next blog. :)

Have a great week, everyone!

- Deadly (Dieting) DeLeon