Article written by Ashleigh Lowry.
Imposter syndrome is something that writers don’t hear about often, but are constantly battling. In simple terms, imposter syndrome makes people doubt and talk down their abilities, even once they have achieved great things. One common stream of thought is “I am a fraud just pretending to be writer”. You are not alone in these thoughts, but it doesn’t make them true.
It’s a hard thing to combat as it can play heavily on how writers view themselves, no matter how big they get. Which could in turn lead to them disliking or hating writing because they will never view themselves as good enough. Writers dealing with imposter syndrome can feel as if they lucked into success they do not deserve, that no matter how much research, skill building or natural talent they possess, they will never achieve real writer-hood. For some it manifests as the intense need to be 100% perfect 100% of the time, for others it is the obsession with going above and beyond for everything and everyone, never allowing others to assist or provide guidance. This can put strain on health, relationships and productivity, and if gone unchecked, it could potentially lead to burning out and/or other stress induced aliments.
That constant push to be perfect can be dangerous, as it involves people trying to reach for the impossible. Those suffering give themselves goals that are unreachable by normal human standards and then barrette themselves when they don’t achieve it, causing more self-doubt about not measuring up. Because of this intense need to be perfect, writers can become chronic micromanagers, self-critical if they cannot achieve and/or refuse to let anyone else have responsibility for things that these writers may not be as skilled in. It takes time to realise that asking for help is not an admission of weakness, it’s the realisations that you can’t do it alone and that is okay.
This can be hard for writers because, for the most part, we work in isolation, which can lead to us being alone with our thoughts for longer than is probably suggested. Those long periods of solitary work can make it difficult to get the reassurance that you are succeeding, even if you just spent the morning erasing the last 6 chapters of the book that you’ve been writing for the last five months. Writers aren’t alone in this feeling of unearned luck. Neil Gaiman told a story about a conversation he had with an elderly gentleman at a convention which went like this:
I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”
And I said, “Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.”
Even Neil Armstrong felt as if he just got lucky, that by following the instructions of his superiors, he became one of the most famous people in modern history, by a complete fluke. So, in so many words, what I am trying to say is that: You are not alone in these feelings, you don’t have to be alone in combating them.
It can be hard to take on imposter syndrome, but it can be done. I thought I would run through a few ways I’ve found from research on how you can take steps towards overcoming, or at least coming to accept this, as something that almost every writer, scratch that, every human being in the past, present or future has dealt with at some point in their lives.
First thing to do is to allow yourself to accept encouragement (This includes self-encouragement). A lot of writers have trouble accepting the idea that their writing (even stuff that has been accepted by editors and published) is good enough for the public to read. Having people tell you throughout the process that you have been successful, even if it’s yourself with a sticky note at 5am in the morning after you fought writer’s block all night, is beneficial. One big way for this method to thrive is to acknowledge that not all progress in writing is about word count. Achieving progress with your writing project may just be the fact that you opened the word document and edited a few paragraphs, or that you took the time to research into music, food or even just clothes your characters would like. They can be as simple as you need them to be. If it is difficult to self-encourage, have a friend or family member that you trust help. They can write you notes through texts or sticky notes, help provide encouragement in those really heavy self-doubt periods or just take you out of the house and let you decompress when you’ve had enough of writing for the day.
As I said before, writing is at its core an individual hobby, but it does not mean it has to be done alone. Writers groups, chatrooms and meet-ups are great way to get around people with the same hobby as you. Since they are writers themselves they will more than likely know what you are going through and can give advice, a helping hand or an ear to listen as you rant away your burn out.
One idea that has helped me a lot with my own battle with this strong manifestation of self-doubt is this one simple sentence, I Am Not a Fraud, I Am a Writer. You might tell me that I have never been published so how can I call myself that? It’s because I have multiple folders on my computer filled with ideas and half-finished chapters, I have countless notebooks bursting with ideas that are not even entirely realised yet. I’m a writer because I wrote. I can’t be a fraud because I have written things, they may be terrible, but they are on paper or in a document in real life. I am writer because I call myself that.
Imposter syndrome is a difficult beast, especially for people such as writers. But having the right tools and weapons, we can keep it at bay and go forth with a little more confidence in our ability to create. We are writers… because we said so.
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