Source: Photo by Min An on Pexels
Now that I’ve finished with Inktober, I find that my evenings are a bit freer, which leaves me feeling less frazzled at the end of each day. Of course, since I’ve been freelancing, I’ve been writing a lot more, and I’ve even started a novel. And because I’ve announced to the world that I’m writing a novel, I’m now guaranteed to stall out and make no further progress on said novel until god knows when.
It’s November, so the natural question is why don’t I participate in NaNoWriMo? How bad can this be? Write 50,000 words in thirty days. That’s just 1,667 words each day (actually, it’s 1666.666 repeating—an ominous number if ever there was one). As small as that number may sound, I have already found it to be quite challenging to even do just three blog posts each week. And each of those posts tops out at a little over 800 words. So, double that number and do it every single day? Nope, I’ll be skipping that challenge, thank you very much. I found that the 10 to 30 minutes I would spend each day drawing from an Inktober prompt was much more attainable.
I’m still hoping to continue with my novel, but I’ve been truly stuck for a while because I’m thinking that my protagonist is all wrong. She’s currently married, and she really ought to be newly divorced. Her life is much too easy for my liking right now, and she’s getting caught up in the middle of a fresh, new murder and an overly handsome tour guide. Yes, divorced is what she ought to be. So, some day, I’ll get back to that novel.
In the meantime, what I’ve been doing to keep myself busy is to read more. Writers like Anne Lamott and Stephen King (and really, most writers) will all tell you that if you want to write, you need to read. And for the longest time, my reading had fallen by the wayside. Since I’ve picked up audiobooks, reading has re-entered my life, and it is fuller and more interesting because of it. I’ve settled into a pattern of reading classics, new and general fiction, and nonfiction. I try to make sure to include minority writers into that rotation, including in the classics phase.
Right now, I’m in the nonfiction phase of my rotation, and I’m currently reading Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital by former journalist and broadcaster Elise Hu. It is a fascinating look into the billion-dollar South Korean beauty industry powered by the government and technology. I’m so fascinated by the immense pressure that men and women feel to continuously improve their looks (their original looks are never enough) through makeup, skincare routines, and plastic surgery. The unforgiving need to look your best radiates not just from friends and family but also from work. In one of the segments I found to be the most jaw-dropping, casual sizeism is legal and prevalent in job descriptions—fat people need not apply, no matter the job.
I never wear makeup, and I refuse to dye my hair, as I wrote about recently. I’ve certainly gained weight as I ride the rollercoaster of hormones that is perimenopause. Most likely, I would find it very, very difficult to find a job in South Korea given the high bar being set by society there.
The pressure to look better than your original self is not just something sold to the world by South Korean beauty conglomerates. The prevalence of beauty filters on social media apps (with some even turning on filters by default) is making us all forget what it feels to look like our original selves.
It’s a scary and fascinating book, and I continually swear that I won’t get sucked into the enormous beauty marketing machine. But, if that’s the case, why did I just purchase a Korean skincare kit from Amazon? Sigh. The siren call of beauty as self care has me in its clutches, I’m afraid.
So, that’s what I’m currently reading. How about you? Share in the comments below.
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