Imposter Syndrome: fake it till you make it

I’m not actually a writer, I’m just pretending.

This is what imposter syndrome feels like for me and if you have ventured on a creative endeavor of any kind, you might have felt the same.

Imposter syndrome is a phrase that has been thrown around quite a bit on social media recently. Basically, imposter syndrome is “that gnawing feeling of self-doubt and incompetence coupled with the dread of being exposed as a fraud.” (Psychology Today) For a deeper look, I recommend looking at this article from Refinery.

If you watched the Oscars earlier this year you may have seen the duo affectionately named “The Daniels” win several awards for Everything Everywhere All At Once. This acceptance speech gives me all the feels because of two reasons: Daniel Scheinert thanks a list of teachers and Daniel Kwan admits to his imposter syndrome being at, “an all time high.”

Being a writer is a strange pursuit due to how solitary it is for most of the process. You quite literally make up entire people, places, scenarios or even worlds in your head over the course of months or years. Because of the isolation of writing there is so much room for self-doubt not having others to collaborate with.

For a long time I had some of the preconceived notions about authors. (Yes, they are ridiculous, but, brains are brains.)

Writing is something for other people who went to better schools than I did or went to college for creative writing or were part of a writing program.
Writers are anointed by a higher-power and come from families of writers.
I’m just cosplaying as a writer and this is an elaborate con that I’m pulling on everyone including myself. Haha, I tricked you.

When the truth is this:

Sure having studied writing formally or informally helps, it doesn’t pre-determine anyone’s ability to be a writer or their potential success.
There is not an almighty being selecting who will be authors and who will not. (Unless Dolly Parton says so in which case, do whatever she says.)
I’m not pretending to be a writer, I’m just at the beginning of this career and new things feel foreign until they become familiar.

There’s a reason the phrase “fake it ‘till you make it” exists. No one who decides to do something new and challenging is immediately an expert.. So what should you do when you’re starting out as a writer and find yourself feeling like an imposter? Here are my tips:

It’s ok if you didn’t receive a formal education as a writer, there are SO many free and easily available resources to educate yourself. Including: podcasts, books, youtube channels, writing groups with courses, heck I have seen some incredible TikToks that have shaped my writing for the better. (I have listed a few of my favorites below.)
Just by writing, you’re becoming a better (and real) writer. The more you write, you find your voice, hone your skill, and become more fluent with the art of writing.
Read! All good writers are avid readers. It’s the law.
The truth is, you’ll never write anything good until you write something bad first.

Maya Angelou even said, “I have written 11 books but each time I think ‘Uh-oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.’” Every author at some point in time experiences feelings of inadequacy, sometimes even after the point of having reached success as being published. So my take-away from that is, if you’re feeling that creeping, crawling feeling of doubt… you’re on your way. Keep your chin up and stay spooky.