Everyone is an expert.
They’re usually not true experts
but they spout off opinions
like they are.
This can make mentoring
challenging.
I’ll give newer writers advice
and then I’ll hear things like…
‘My Great Uncle Bob almost wrote a book once
and he says you’re wrong.
You should do it this way.’
My protégés will give
the advice from
these armchair experts
equal weighting to my advice.
So what I do now
is I tell stories about my own situation.
‘I did it this way
and this was the result.’
When my protégé brings up
Great Uncle Bob’s advice,
I ask her what his specific results were.
Great Uncle Bob usually has no results
because Great Uncle Bob
hasn’t done shit.
He has no real life experience.
After a couple of pushbacks
like this,
my protégés learn
not to mention Great Uncle Bob’s advice
unless he has taken action
to back it up.
Combat armchair experts
with real life experience.