Comments on: Faking It: Knowing Your Limits https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html a freelance writing resource. Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:15:23 +0000 hourly 1 By: Lori https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7917 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:15:23 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7917 Wendy, there you are! Haven't seen you in a few days.

So true. I don't mind telling writers that unpaid experience is indeed still experience (for those starting out), but embellishing is troublesome. Too close to saying you've built the house yourself when in fact you simply hung the drapes after the contractors left.

]]> By: Wendy https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7914 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:06:08 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7914 I think some (not all, of course) of this comes from internet marketers and affiliate marketers that target those who want to work from home. There have been ebooks and guides telling newbies that one “secret” to landing the job you want is to pad the resume. They don’t specifically say to lie, steal and cheat their way to the job, but they don’t exactly go out of their way to explain the proper way to handle it either. They give the general statements that leads one to believe they can put their 6th grade essay on the workings of the presidential election as ‘Political writing’ experience.

]]> By: Lori https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7913 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:58:56 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7913 A Will Robinson/robot reference! You've made my day, Jake. 🙂

We all want to sound as good as possible – I totally agree. I just see so many writers doing so while stretching the truth to the breaking point. That's going to snap back on them.

Oh Paula, that's what I feared. Too many of those types of "experts" are muddying things.

]]> By: Paula https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7912 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:17:33 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7912 Not long ago, someone I barely know asked me if I could look at her resume. She knew I was both a professional writer and a resume writer, so she wanted ideas on how to create a resume for her freelance writing work.

I can't recall the exact words she used in her summary, but it implied vast experience writing for print and online publications. What was her actual experience? She wrote three blogs (all her own, none for hire) and had stuff published on several mills. All in the past three years. Not what you'd expect from the description she provided.

]]> By: Jake P https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7911 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:02:15 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7911 Kimberly has a good point — early on, there's an urge and often a need to make yourself sound as good as possible. I'm reminded of my first newspaper gig, where my "professional" qualifications included having written a half-dozen golf articles for my high school paper. But, I was lucky enough to have a guy take a chance on me.

That said, I'm now old and diversified enough that I can pretty much find a clip to relate to just about any project in any topic — but you're 100% correct that the last thing I'd want to do is blur the Working Knowledge/Extensive Expertise line. (Danger, Will Robinson!)

No. Wait. Strike that. The *last* thing I'd want to do is claim that I can change any life but my own.

]]> By: Lori https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7910 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:55:15 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7910 Amen, Kim. Exactly the point. You can fake confidence, but faking experience is just wrong.

]]> By: Kimberly Ben https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7909 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:31:10 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7909 I think the "faking it" approach can be what helps writers push themselves to take the leap and just do it – start working. HOWEVER, there is a fine line between faking it for the sake of simply building confidence and being dishonest about skills and experience. Lying about what you can do for a client can come back to bite you on the arse. You don't want to build a business on a shaky foundation of dishonesty or cultivate a reputation of inadequacy.

]]> By: Lori https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7908 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:25:03 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7908 LOL! Oh Cathy, that's puke-inducing! Not the diaper part, either. I change lives? Really? You write! You edit! You change copy! How about "I change the way people approach their business communications." That's much more relevant – and has some actual truth in it.

]]> By: Cathy https://wordsonpageblog.com/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html#comment-7907 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:14:15 +0000 http://loriwidmer.com/wordsonpage/index.php/2011/03/faking-it-knowing-your-limits.html/#comment-7907 This one I have to borrow from Men With Pens-yesterday James had a post that at a conference several people explained what they did by replying, I change lives. Puh-leeze. My response was that if I was a Mom, I would have replied, I change diapers. Get over yourself. Come to think of it, I may not be a Mom, but I have changed plenty of diapers.

Anyway, that ranks up with one of the all time worst claims. Who knew there were so many Nobel Peace Award recipients at one conference? 🙂

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