The Bartender

First of all, yes, that is my husband in the photo, and yes, that’s the bar where we met. Now, on to the post…

If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I started connecting with other authors, no matter how successful, imposter syndrome is real. On one hand, it really sucks knowing it never goes away. On the other, it’s so relieving to know I’m not alone! For the record, I highly recommend focusing on the latter.

Since it’s almost certain to stick around, it’s a good idea to find ways to combat it. Especially for those of us who struggled with finding the confidence to start writing in the first place. For me, one thing I’ve found that helps on the days I feel like I’m never going to make it as an author is thinking about my experience bartending. It wasn’t like writing the college papers I hated, only wanting to be good for someone else (the teacher) or something else (the grade). Sure, my pride was mixed in there too, but that’s still not enough. With bartending, I wanted to be good at it just to be good at it. I wanted it solely for me.

Truth be told, I really didn’t think I would be good at it at first. I was too quiet, wasn’t good at small talk, wouldn’t remember how to make so many different drinks. Serving was fine, I didn’t have to do those things, didn’t have to endure as much face time with customers. The excuses were many.

But despite all my doubts, one of the other bartenders convinced me to exchange my apron for a bar key (metaphorically, of course — you get to buy your own bar keys). As it turned out, I wasn’t just good at it. I was great. It took some time to get there, like all things, but once I did? I was good, and I knew it.

The jury is still out on how this novel will turn out, but if it’s anything like bartending, with a little bit of time, it’ll be great!