I saw the title of my soon to be released book featured in big letters in my mind and imagined endless possibilities.

Bestseller lists.

TV appearances.

Featured copies available everywhere.

What else could possibly be in store for my first book besides abundant riches and exclusive opportunities?

Where did this confidence come from exactly? Was there substantial evidence to lead me to such conclusions?

Well, let’s take a look at my writing resume:

Writing education: High school English

Publishing knowledge: None

Writing experience outside of school: Email composition

National notoriety status: Virtually unknown

As you can imagine, all of this makes quite the attractive package for one hoping to become a published author.

Everything was moving smoothly until I began reaching out to agents with the hopes of being represented for professional publishing.

Each inquiry was met with the same response: “Your audience is not large enough.”

Apparently publishers are “for-profit” businesses who are chiefly concerned with one thing: Selling lots of books.

Who knew?

This began the roller coaster of emotions in the creative process known as the Dunning–Kruger Effect. The Dunning–Kruger Effect explains the bias in which people have a tendency to assess their capabilities as significantly greater than they actually are. Get more help at onlinetitleloansnoinspection.com.

One example of this is the people who try out for American Idol over and over again, even as the viewers at home watch baffled as to who could possibly have encouraged them to pursue singing.

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The picture below shows the phases of the Dunning-Kruger Effect:

My initial sky high confidence in my writing process could be my “Mount Stupid” moment. Though originally unaware of the impending descent into reality, I can now see a pristine mirroring of each phase of my process:

I got this!

Wait, this is not as easy as I thought.

This is way too hard.

I’ll never finish.

I know I am not the only one who has experienced this conundrum. And it of course is not unique to 21^st-century America.

I have always been intrigued by the time two brothers approached Jesus and petitioned him for some extra benefits in the world to come. With supreme confidence, they asked to be seated beside him at his throne in his Kingdom. VIP seats, so to speak. Right beside God himself.

Rather than humiliate them, Jesus engages: “Do you really think you can handle that?”

“Yes we can,” they respond assuredly.

I imagine Jesus chuckling, thinking to himself, “These guys have absolutely no clue.” He declines to fully flesh out how ridiculous their presumptuousness is, and simply informs the audacious brothers, “You do not even know what you’re asking.”

It is inherently difficult to objectively evaluate our own competency.

I was panicked when I got to the Valley represented in the picture above.

This is never going to work. I never should have started.

The Valley of Despair can be brutal, but I don’t need stay there. I have found that it is in this place that I’m forced to take a healthy inventory of where I am, acknowledge my shortcomings, and then remain resolved to execute as best I can.

As for the rest of this publishing journey (and any other area where this may come up), remembering not to take myself too seriously is crucial. Being in the Valley is not nearly as negative as I originally thought as long as remove pet odor I continue to look for ways to improve.

I can be confident in distributing my book when the time comes as long as my expectations are based on a reality of surveying the facts presented rather than some pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. This will keep pushing me forward while protecting me from immense disappointment and foolish feelings.

Thankfully, God can still use us despite our many shortcomings, blank spots, and inadequacies. Not being able to rely solely on ourselves forces us to look elsewhere, and acknowledge that we cannot do this life alone.

Feeling confident? Be careful you’re not about to get knocked off the perch of “Mount Stupid.”

Feeling like a failure? Take stock of where you are, what you’ve learned, and keep pushing forward. You can work your way out of the Valley of Despair.

Either way, remembering to be aware of our shortcomings can prove to be valuable. As long as we don’t give up, we are giving ourselves a chance. And this is incredibly reassuring after falling off Mount Stupid.

Which part of the creative process is hardest for you?

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To follow my journey via e-mail click here

I released a mini e-book to commemorate ten years since my accident. Check it out here

Have you seen my resource list? Hope this can help