A Swift Kick from Bossy Tina Fey

I finished Tina Fey's Bossypants today. To say Tina's funny "would be the biggest understatement since the captain of the Hindenburg said ‘I smell gas.’" (To be clear, that's a joke from the book, but not about herself.) The early conversation about puberty made me laugh out loud and almost drop the light bulb I was changing. And fall off the chair. And my husband to look at me peculiarly and ask, "What're you listening to?"

But two of my favorite quotes?

"You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute."

"The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30."

Taken from the same conversation, Tina's talking about writing -- that it won't be perfect every time, but in the end, hopefully the great ones will outweigh the stinkers. I needed this. It might (or might not) come as a surprise that I agonize over each and every post. Seriously. I'll spend a day or two writing, then probably another editing every other sentence. Followed by a few last minute adjustments, and gulping, I'll finally hit "publish." One post takes a total of 5 hours or more.

Which is exactly what I'm not supposed to do with a blog. "The experts" say it should be quick thoughts, 3-5 posts per week, and less wordy. Okay, a lot less wordy. Five hundred words or less is recommended, whereas mine are usually 1,000 or more. The point of a blog is to help me grow as a writer. My current perfectionism does not.

Whoops. So I'll not elaborate about the book. If you like Tina Fey, you'll like the book. Simple enough. I genuinely related to her observations about motherhood, especially the "teet nazis" (the women who brag about their breastfeeding). Her insights into accepting herself (and her body) were uplifting and pretty much what I expected. Her thoughts on photoshopping and impersonating Sarah Palin were not.

Okay, so I elaborated just a bit. But I loved the book, and especially love that it inspired me. Although I probably won't forego the perfectionism overnight, I'll at least try. Starting with this 393-word post that took 65 minutes to write.

I owe Tina a great big "Thanks!" for being the bitch who pushed me down the slide.

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