The Mind Impostor
You want to know what my biggest fear as a writer is? Sure, I’ll tell you but it’ll cost you.
It’s being called an impostor in something that is entirely subjective. Everybody can write. It’s the writing well part that grabs many by the throat and shakes them until they pass out. Not everybody can hack it in the pro leagues, and many choke. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t swing for the fences with every pitch.
The fear of being called out as an impostor in a group is so common that psychologists have given it a name: Impostor Syndrome. It’s like that first day in a new school. You look around and see all of those other super smart kids and ask yourself why you’re there.
You think that being called out as one will fracture your whole existence, thereby preventing you from even showing your face online or in real life ever again? Poppycock.
Every writer I’ve ever met has this problem to some extent. It’s so prevalent I’m starting to think it’s a prerequisite for being a writer. We can be a real miserable lot. It’s no wonder Hemingway drank like a fish.
So I’ll save all of you out there a lot of that self-flagellating misery: you’re not an impostor. If you’re writing and struggling through the same problems every other writer goes through, either professional or amateur, then you’re not one.
And neither am I.
Hear hear! Short sharp and oh so sweet. Solidarity, Reg!
Excellent, Devin. Words worth hearing!