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Fake It ‘Til You Make It

I |sairk|referrer|eirhk
sit down at the keyboard and pretend I know what I’m doing or writing about or know how to make complete sentences.

I pretend that I have something to say and that others want to hear it. That they need to hear it.

I pretend that it is more important than any of the other far more important things I could be doing.

I pretend that book I just wrote is the best thing I’ve ever written.

I pretend the next one will be even better.

I pretend I’m not procrastinating on writing the next book by still writing this one instead.

In other words (and in so many more ways than this), I fake it.

But, then, someone quotes a complete sentence I wrote because they enjoyed it.

Someone else tells me that I said something they needed to hear.

Then my wife tells me the work I’m doing is important.

And someone whose work I admire tells me they enjoyed my book and they think the next will be even better.

Then, I realize that I could not have finished writing my next book without laying the groundwork and learning some lessons from this one.

Then I know I’ve made it.