Do You Suffer from Impostor Syndrome?
Dear writer,
This week I was approached by one of my writers who had concerns about her current draft. She has been working on this manuscript for a little while and suddenly feels like it isn’t good enough. She hates every word she puts on the page and feels forced every time she sits down to start her writing session. Of course, I addressed her concerns, but this made me wonder, have you ever felt like your writing was not good enough?
Sooner or later, every writer experiences this, and do you know what? I think it’s a good thing. Experiencing a form of impostor syndrome indicates to me that you care enough to make your work better. You have a standard for your writing, which means you won’t half-ass it. Writing means something to you, and because of that, you will do whatever you can to improve your craft.
Now, too much of the impostor syndrome will leave you feeling paralysed on the page. You might be afraid to move forward, or if you do move forward, you hate every word you write.
If you feel this way or have ever felt this way, I first want you to know you’re not alone. Even through my own drafting process, I felt this way, and it has taken me over a decade to get it right. But it doesn’t need to take you as long as it did for me to get back on track again.
You see, what I realised was I didn’t trust the value of my own ideas, my own words or my writing style. When we experience impostor syndrome, we experience a severe case of self-doubt. The first thing you need to do when this happens is remind yourself that you are meant to be a writer. How could I possibly know that? Well, it’s because this dream has been so heavily engrained into you that the thought of not being an author is too disappointing to grasp. If you feel this passionately about writing, it’s definitely for a reason.
So here are the eight steps I would take to confront impostor syndrome:
The first step to believing in yourself can be as simple as questioning, “Well . . . why can’t it be me?” Confront your doubt and see what it has to say, then question it. Doubts aren’t facts, they’re insecurities, and since when do insecurities ever equate to worth? They are only opinions of the things that want to hold you back from getting everything you want.
Trust yourself. What I mean by trusting yourself is trust the words you have to say. You may think that what you’re writing has been said a million times before and better by other people, but again, you can’t know that for certain. If your perspective on what you’re writing has shaped your life for the better, then how could it not do the same for someone else? Maybe not every person in the world, but a large amount of people would benefit from hearing your perspective, so trust that. It may be the case that you’re too close to your story or too knowledgeable about the topic you’re writing to think it’s anything special. But to an outsider, it is almost always just the thing they needed to hear.
Know that the first draft, the second draft, and even the third draft does not mean it’s the final draft. You don’t need to get it right on the first go. The earlier drafts are always for writing down everything you want to talk about or the plot, and the later drafts are for tidying the manuscript up to make it sound pretty. But take the pressure off yourself in the early drafts; the weight of it is too heavy to hold.
The next step is a little scary, but it’s one of the most beneficial things you can do to help improve your confidence in your writing, and that is to share your work with someone. This can be either to an alpha reader, a beta reader, or a loved one you trust. An alpha reader’s job is to analyse a draft manuscript in the early stages and give you feedback on what they like and what they think could improve. A beta reader’s job is the same, only for a draft manuscript in the later stages. By doing so, you will be able to gauge an average reader’s opinion of your work so far, which will stop you from being so overly critical. They could even help you with some creative blocks too.
Another thing you can do is to go back to the beginning and reconnect with what made you excited about your book. Revisit that concept, then reread some of the earlier passages you wrote. You may find you’re a better writer than you think.
Romanticise your manuscript. If you’re writing fiction, reimagine the scenes and have the settings appear differently, more vivid. If you’re writing a non-fiction, create a mood board that captures exactly how you want your book to feel. The idea behind this is like rearranging the furniture in your house to invite new energy in, so rearrange the furniture of your manuscript to invite new energy. This could mean changing the way a scene looks, the aesthetic it brings to your mind, the way a character looks, or the way you think about writing in general.
Read your favourite books that are similar to the one you’re writing and analyse why you love them so much, then apply whatever fits to your own manuscript. The concept behind this is to bring the fun back into your writing. Usually we get caught up in trying to write the things we think readers would like rather than write the things that bring us joy or are fun for us to read. But the reality of that situation is, every reader picks up the energy of the writer. So if you’re writing a scene or section that you think is boring, your readers will believe the same. But if you’re writing something that is fun and exciting to you, as said, your readers will believe the same. Therefore, it’s always better to write for yourself than for others.
Take a break. I usually hate this advice because sometimes the issue isn’t fixed with a break, but I would say it is when you’re too close to your story. If you write every day, take a week off to not think about it. Read other books and take the pressure off yourself. When you come back to your work, you will most likely see you were being too hard on yourself and that your writing is not nearly as bad as you thought it to be.
Out of all of the above steps, if I could stress the importance of any, it would be to share your work with someone. Even though it is the scariest step, it is definitely the most beneficial. Having someone else there to bounce ideas off and to tell you whether your message is being conveyed efficiently or not is the greatest asset you could have for all your drafts.
Personally, I talk to my brother about my story ideas. He not only has an excellent understanding of what makes a story amazing, but we also have the exact same taste, so his opinion means the world to me. If you don’t have someone like that in your life, and you aren’t ready for an alpha or beta reader yet, you can join a writer’s group. They are completely free and are a great way to find critique partners and make like-minded friends.
Much love,
Elena
