February 17, 2020
Have you ever heard of imposter syndrome? It’s what a person experiences psychologically when she thinks her accomplishments aren’t that great and that someone will find out she’s not who she claims to be. In other words, she feels like a fraud. If you’re a writer, and you haven’t had similar thoughts, congratulations. I’d venture to say you’re one of the few and lucky ones. Most of us think this way at some point in our writing career.
So, if you’re experiencing some degree of the syndrome, right off the bat I’ll say, welcome to the club. You’re not alone. That probably won’t take the feelings away, but misery does love company. Seriously, though, take a deep breath, because I’m going to ask you to do something brave here.
OK, you can let that breath out. While you’re at it, let go of those feelings of inadequacy. Simply blow them out with your breath. Sing the let it go song from Frozen if it helps. Envision the negative notion flowing past your lips and dissipating before your eyes.
It’s that easy. And it’s that hard to not breathe it back in. Here’s one way to banish those nasty thoughts. Think of how many billions of people are living on this blue planet. Now consider how many of them would like to write a self-help or how-to book, a memoir, magazine article, short story, poem, the great American novel. Now think about how many of them actually do it.
You’re one of the few who followed your dream, put action to the wish. And if you’ve uploaded your work to a site like ChapterBuzz.com, or sent an article, book proposal to a publisher, you’re even rarer. You’ve put yourself out there for public scrutiny. That, my friend, is brave. No imposter stuff going on with you.
You have dared to let the world hear your voice, and hopefully, you realize there is no other voice out there quite like yours. No one compares. So, take another cleansing breath, pat yourself on the back, stand a little taller. You are an author! Own it.