… because you have not written on a particular topic, in a particular style, in a particular market, or in a particular format?
Sometimes I feel like I’m not a real writer until I get a short story published in The New Yorker or convince Penguin to print a book. This in spite of my current position and success in writing.
I have a hunch even if I did get something published in TNY or with Penguin I’d still wonder if I was a fraud.
This chronic doubt plagues all creative pursuits.
You are not a real actor until you perform on Broadway. You are not a real musician until you get a contract with Sony. You are not a real film maker until you win an award at Sundance.
Is this part of that drive for mastery? Obsession with supremacy? That we will never settle?
Please share your thoughts. Brutal and all.
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I think this is partially the way we as individuals work, and also how society works on us.
Society tells us “success” and “fame” are only real if you are indeed printed in The New Yorker or published by Penguin. Part of my individual brain also thinks this way.
Then you get some of those people in society, whom your brain chooses to believe, that success and fame are how you define it. If you feel delighted that you got published by that website that hits 10,000 readers a month, good for you.
But I don’t think settling or assuming you’ve mastered everything once that happens is wise. You’re more of a fraud if you DO settle and assume you’re a master, and don’t have to learn anything ever again.
Bree, that’s a phenomenal way to position it. That makes the anxiety of “I haven’t arrived yet” useful, purposeful. Thank you.
Wow, that’s a boss comment Bree. Thank you for reassuring us all that our anxiety is okay. 🙂
Damien – just keep on keeping on feeling like a fraud…
…but know that I think you’re far from it.
You’re giving me a free education from over 3,000 miles away dude.
Demian*
Damn.
Damien is the fraudulent Demian 😉
Haha. No worries. Happens all the time. And I enjoy teaching. 😀
As someone with no formal training in writing or storytelling but loves to create, I can tell you this is on my mind with almost every keystroke.
I constantly am lining myself up against the accomplishments of people who’ve considered themselves writers for their entire lives, who have notebooks full of half-finished stories stacked to ceiling in their parents attic…
…how can Math major with no training (and who according to his wife only has a loose grip on the spoken English language) move people with the written word?
I just keep writing on the premise of “Fake it till you make it.”
I call this bleeding on the keys.
Hanley
I struggle with this kind of thing daily, and it’s something that takes getting used to from being in the job world for so many years where you just show up and do what you did yesterday.
I’m not sure if it ever goes away, so it’s probably best to learn to live with it rather than thinking there’s something wrong with you if you have these insecure feelings. Seth Godin explains it best in the Icarus Deception when he says that, when the resistance shows up, we know we’re on the right track. Thanks!
I need to read that book.
As a marketing copywriter, I’m constantly writing about stuff some might say I have no business writing about. What do I know about minimally invasive surgery or ocean drilling? If I ask enough questions, do enough research, etc., I become enough of an authority to get over the fear that I am, possibly, a fraud. In fact, if I do a good job, maybe I’ll get a person to have that procedure done. Maybe I’ll save a life. Do doctors or rig operators know how to market their capabilities? Isn’t what they do called “practicing”? Who’s the fraud now?
We are all practising writers. I’ll go for that.
Sorry… I’m late to the part by a couple of weeks.
I write copy for a website development company called 828 Web Design. I’m asked to write and rewrite content for a variety of clients and their services, most of which, I know nothing about. Although, my stuff isn’t quite so exciting as minimally invasive surgery or ocean drilling. I work on stuff like HVAC, animal clinics and tech support. But I get to write and that’s the part that jazzes me.
I agree with all the previous comments . The fear of being a fraud, of being condemned by others, is at the core of most human beings, not just writers. It’s a human condition we are all in the process of overcoming.
Amen.
Bree and Mike’s comments resonated with me. To expand on Mike’s point, is a doctor not a real doctor until she works at the Mayo Clinic? And, if one of her patients dies while being treated by her, does that make her a fraud? Some doctors probably have struggled with this, even though we can easily sit here and say, “No, that doesn’t make her a fraud.”
In those moments of insecurity, writers can let themselves go there easily (I’m a fraud.”) Nobody ever completely escapes these little moments. Even the writers who are considered “at the top,” struggle with the anxiety of “staying at the top.” The high of recognition wears off. Standards change. For example, Bonfire of the Vanities was a bestseller in the 80s. I haven’t heard anyone mention this book in years. And who is talking about Thomas Wolfe today?
My point is this… Writers must focus on their writing passions, interests and craft. Work hard. Always desire to get better. Write. And enjoy the journey. But be sure to respect yourself as a unique individual. Stop comparing yourself to other writers.
Die happy.
(And let the fame chips fall where they may… because they may not fall until after you are dead. Or never.)
That was absolutely brilliant.
The best surfer, is the one with the biggest smile.
Love that quote, Paul!
The best writer is the one with the biggest smile. I’ll go for that. 😀
And I always stress about being a fraud. Guess I still need to have that epiphenal moment when I’m able to say it out loud,… “I’m a writer.”
You are a practising writer. 😉
Do I? All the time. Sometimes it stops me writing at all. Other times it spurs me on to prove I’m not.