Fake...Fake...Fake...

Sometimes I think back to the Seinfeld episode when Elaine tells Jerry she has faked it with him before. (Come on ladies, you know you had to at some point.) Jerry lists out different times they were together and Elaine points in the vacant air in front of her and tells him, ‘fake…fake…fake.’ Of course, Jerry becomes obsessed with getting Elaine to give him another chance. Elaine keeps trying to reassure him everyone fakes it, and it really isn't a big deal. Eventually Jerry convinces Elaine that they have to have sex to save the friendship.

You may be asking, what does a Seinfeld episode about faking it, has to do with writing or this blog. First, the writing for that show was just brilliant. But that fact that you could apply it to different areas of your life, and see where sometimes you had to ‘fake it’…makes it epic. You all know life can be that way. There are times when you have to ‘fake it til’ you make it’. You have to ‘act as if’ in order to bring to fruition what you want in your life, and yet sometimes you find yourself always trying to prove you can do it. If you ‘act as if’ enough, eventually; you start to embody the definition of what you want to be.

I want to be a successful published author, so I have to act as if. Because if I do it long enough and convince every cell in my body that I am, the world can't help but see me that way.

I would be lying if I didn’t tell you I ache to put the words, published author after my name. I want it so bad, I almost sent my half-edited manuscript and query letter to my top 5 agents. I was able to stop by asking myself, would a published author do that? Would they send something in without making sure it shined? I don’t think so, so I grabbed a pencil and kept polishing my manuscript. I needed to embody the feelings and ideas of a published author. Fake it til’ you make it. Because I know that there will be a day when published author is printed after my name and I'll sit in a coffee shop pointing out all the times I had to fake it.

Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlpD2Ata8kI Thanks-d0mag0j

Sometimes It’s The Little Things

As I sit here thinking about the process of becoming a published author, I experience the all so familiar excitement bubble. The one which tends to crawl up into the back of my throat and likes to wait there for me to acknowledge it before it quietly makes its way back down to my stomach. You know the feelings you get when someone says ‘some words’ that pump your confidence. They stroke that inner fire that sometimes needs another log because it starts to smolder instead of rage. Well that happened on Monday-- twice.

We all are self conscious about our creative work. It does not matter who you are, published, not published, famous, unknown or even a best seller. We all need to know that what we have to say matters- that our words matter. For me, it’s when people tell me that what I have written is really good. It’s when someone actually sees a whole new side of me that they don’t know exists and they discover the feelings it awakens within them. It’s the validation that your hard work, your passion, has an impact on someone’s life. That’s a pretty powerful thing.

Last Monday, my words impacted people’s lives. Who would have thought a nameless mention in a local newspaper or a conversation with a person whose spouse is reading my work, would have stroked the smoldering hot coals into burning desires to keep going? It’s those little things that create the bubble in the back of my throat that tells me I’m doing something right.