Impostor Syndrome: Am I A Rubbish Writer?
If you write for a living – or even a hobby – then chances are you’re going to have days where you feel terrible: You’re going to wake up and feel that all your confidence has disappeared. You’ll ask yourself “Am I rubbish at writing?” You’ll suffer from what’s called the impostor syndrome, and you’ll wonder whether you should quit before everyone starts laughing at you.
Fear not… you’re better than you think, and if you follow the guidelines I’m laying out in this article, you’ll never have to worry about this for more than a flippant moment.
What is the Impostor Syndrome?
The impostor syndrome is that feeling where you – you guessed it – feel like an impostor.
People who suffer from the impostor syndrome feel that they’re lucky. They feel like they’re not as intelligent as people think they are. They think that any success they might have is down to nobody noticing that they’re actually terrible.
The impostor syndrome can lead to you feeling like you’re just waiting for someone to come and tell you that you’re terrible and for it all to come crashing down.
Am I Really A Rubbish Writer?
I’ve experienced the feeling of feeling I’m a rubbish writer before. I’ve written about it elsewhere, and every time I have a stupid idea, I tell you guys about it. It’s only natural that there’ll be times when we feel good about our ability and bad about it at other times.
Sometimes, I’ll read someone else’s work. I’ll want to quit. Then I’ll realise that I can get better.
Sometimes, I’ll think about what I want to achieve and realise I’m a million miles away from success, and I’ll want to quit. Then I’ll keep going.
Everyone can do that… keep going.
How To Deal With Feelings Of Inferiority?
The above section just illustrates that our feelings aren’t always going to work in our favour. I’m of a particular sort of person who can keep going when things get tough mentally, and I understand that other people aren’t the same. So I’ve compiled a short list of three factors to take into account when you’re feeling incredibly demotivated about your writing skill:
Practice Makes Probably-Not-Perfect, But Do It Anyway
Sometimes, I’ll read a book or an article. It’ll be terrible. (Some of you are probably thinking that right now!) There are a hell of a lot of people who make money by being not-so-great.
This is an inspiration when you’re feeling rubbish. Not every piece of work you’re going to write is going to be the best you’ve ever done. Not everything you write is going to be gold.
Don’t worry though; you’re in the same boat with everyone on the planet. You’re also a lot better than a lot of people who are a lot worse at writing than you are.
Let’s face facts as well, if you just sit and write, you’re going to be better than the super-awesome-critics that populate the internet that never actually do anything themselves, so there’s about five billion people you’re better than.
You Are Unique
Your writing is an extension of yourself. No matter how bad at writing you are technically, and no matter what a critic might say, you have a unique way of wording things that will lend something to your work that nobody else has.
I know I’ve written about this before in much better ways, but I can’t for the life of me find it. But when you’re thinking about impostor syndrome, remember that you are you, and that’s a unique selling point for every word you write.
Success Breeds Success
We’ve all heard, “you are the person you spend the most time with.”
I maintain that we’re the person we spend the most time with, and that person is the voice in our head. The way to stop the critic in your head is to do to that voice what you would do to any other critic: Prove them wrong.
When you’ve never sold a short story, or never made a penny as a writer, it’s really easy to listen to that voice in your head. Your inner voice has all the ammunition it needs.
“You haven’t sold anything!”
“You can’t finish a novel”
“Nobody would pay you to write for them!”
Every single objection can be met with an achievement. The voice in my head could say all of those things to me, and I would simply say, “You’re wrong.” That’s because I’ve done all of those things. You can do exactly the same.
Sure, those objections will be replaced by new ones – but once your inner voice realises that you’re going to achieve everything it says you can’t, suddenly it gets a lot quieter when it comes to its objections.
Final Thoughts
This article has come out of nowhere – and I might have written about this before – so apologies if that’s the case.
However, self-doubt is one of the worst things that affects people, writers in particular. In the long term, the best way to counter self-doubt is to achieve what you need to. In the short term, working through it and recognising that you’re not as terrible as you’re telling yourself is the best thing to do.
Also when you do succeed, give yourself a pat on the back. It definitely helps, and you’ll reinforce the good feelings of achievement.