Expert in the Rough, Brian Monahan

Have you ever felt like a fraud?  If you are new to blogging or writing you may be experiencing what I like to call Fraud Factor.

I experienced my first case of Fraud Factor when I started my personal coaching business in 2001.  In 2001 blogs were a mere sparkle in your eye.  E-zines or E-newsletters were all the rage for marketing your coaching business or just about any business for that matter.

I started by giving my E-zine a title “What’s Up With That!?” it later morphed in to “What’s the Big Idea?” and that is about where the  fun ended.

I figured it would be an easy venture but as I sat down to write my first article I started to experience this weird feeling that I was a fraud.  There was no reason for me to feel this way.  I was not trying to mislead or rip off anybody but inside I felt like I was misleading or better yet, maybe I was not up to the task.  Maybe I really did not know what I was writing about.

How could that be true?  I was merely sharing my idea or opinion.  How could I be a fraud? It was my opinion or idea…right?

You might be experiencing something similar.  In many writing books they call it the inner or self critic.  Whatever you call it, it can be a crippling experience.  Sometimes when I feel this critic creep up in my mind, I can’t even write a draft.  I start and stop, rethink and judge my work.  Over the years I have created some strategies to overcome the critic or Fraud Factor.


Here are 5 Strategies to Overcome the Fraud Factor:

1.  Write frequently and request feedback from friends and family.

2.  Set a time limit for writing an article or post make no edits until after the time limit has elapsed.

3.  Write about what you know like the back of your hand, put away being clever write about the obvious.

4.  Forgive yourself for being less than perfect. You will probably never feel 100% confident about all that you write.

5.  Take a class, a seminar or read a book; continued education is the key to becoming an expert.  The more you know the greater your confidence.

As you grow the Fraud Factor will creep up from time to time.  It can mean one of two things.  You are trying to share what you don’t really know or you are actually growing and claiming new territory.

So the next time you feel like a fraud it might actually be a good thing.

Hopefully Natalie Golderg will update her classic book “Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within” to include and updated addendum on blogging.  Natalie, if you are out there, you can even have my post title if you follow through with this idea.

Throughout Ms. Goldberg’s book she constantly takes you back to the idea of writing daily.  This is a central theme I have heard from all writers.  I have been lucky enough to spend some time with some well known authors such as Jeffrey Gitomer and Matthew Kelly.  Both alluded to some form of daily writing method.  I personally have started and stopped over the years and often wondered if I had what it takes to write.

That leads to one of the other themes in her book.  Squelching the editor.  You cannot be the editor and the writer at the same time.  In fact if you can allow someone else to be the editor that is even better.  The way to overcome being the editor falls back on the concept of writing daily.  If you want to be a writer, then write.

Ms. Goldberg’s book’s focus is on writing poems, novels and memoirs which can be a distraction at times, if your writing focus is on knowledge, expertise and opinion.  With that in mind I encourage you to push through this book.  I started reading this book in April and just finished this weekend.  It is a good read, a few chapters at a time.  This allows for digestion of her concepts.  With some writing practice in between readings, you will notice a difference in your voice.

I must say, this book has had great impact on me, I have been looking for a topic to write about for nearly five years.   Ms. Goldberg’s tips, tweaks and inspirations are scattered within her book which has inspired me to launch two blogs in the last 4 months, including this one “Expert in the Rough.”

So, I offer a “LifeHack” for “Writing Down the Bones” instead of journaling with a pen and paper, I recommend creating a blog about your life’s passion.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” — Seneca, Roman philosopher

My wife bought me the coolest journal ever.  It’s so cool I had two people ask to see it at the airport last week.

Over the years I have had all sorts of notebooks and scraps of paper on which I have jotted down ideas.

Which is fine, but I encourage you to take it to the next level.  Find yourself a “Cool” but convenient notebook to carry around with you.  The “Cooler” it is the greater the Inspiration.

Are you ready for your “Next Big Idea?”

Liberate your voice.  If you can’t get past the censor inside, you will never get past the censor in cyberspace.

A quick way to liberate your voice is to write mad.

Now try the flip side; simmer down and write nicely on the same subject.

Which one is more interesting?

So why are you writing nice?