Fake It 'til Make It

"Fake it 'til you make it!"

That is the motto of a close friend of mine and, considering they started a successful business in their 20s, I'm happy to take it.

Too often I find myself worrying that I can't write well enough, don't know enough about a topic or am competing against scads of people who are just better at this writing game than I am. But then I have to give myself the "Fake it 'til you make it" pep talk.

I think the problem is that I am basically a shy person who tends to downplay myself and my experiences. I continually need to remind myself that if I don't believe in myself, why would anyone else?

The first editor to accept my writing to include in a book had no idea that I had never been in an book OR written about baseball before. My baseball experience began and ended with attending Little League games and rooting for the Phillies whenever they made it to the playoffs. But in the end the editor loved my piece so much that he invited me to pitch for other - non-baseball related - books.

My students in my first writing class had no idea that normally my classes involved multiplication tables and conjunctions (during my stint as a elementary school substitute teacher). But that first class led to additional workshops and talks.

My first advertising client had no idea that just the week before I was dong something very different. They just placed their month long advertising campaign in my hands. A year later some of my advertising work was submitted for an award. I didn't win but hey, it's an honor just to be nominated.

As writers, we're the first line. We have to believe in ourselves if we want anyone else to believe in us. Confidence in my writing abilities had made amazing things happen for me. I've contacted authors, organizations, destinations with requests for an interview, tour, vintage photo and they've happily agreed. Every time I'm amazed all over again that they would agree to do this for me! I tend to gloss over the fact that we're working together - that they're getting something too (publicity for their business, a chance to tell their story, a new connection).

Writers have to exude confidence in interviews, pitch meetings, networking events. Everything about us has to say "I can do this!" Even though there's a part of you that's whispering, "Can I do this?"

Yes, it's difficult. But do it. Believe in yourself! And store up all those amazing things that happened just because you took a chance. You can use them in your pep talk if you're ever feeling down.

What was the last amazing thing to happen in your writing career just because you asked?

Jodi M. Webb writes from her home in the Pennsylvania mountains. After a decade hiatus from writing, she is back with bylines in Tea Journey, Mental Floss and a WIP about her plant obsession. She's also a blog tour manager for WOW-Women on Writing. Get to know her @jodiwebbwrites , Facebook or Words by Webb.