I’m pretty sure that nearly every accomplished person deals with Imposter Syndrome at least once in their lives. In fact, Neil Armstrong once admitted to another Neil (who we are not going to discuss, which is why I have chosen a different source than Said Neil’s blog) that he wasn’t sure why he was invited to a meeting of some of the world’s brightest luminaries.

While I wouldn’t ever count myself as anywhere near the level of excellence as the first man on the fucking moon, I do deal with Imposter Syndrome on a regular basis. It’s hard not to, especially as a self-published author; after all, anyone can scoff and sniff that I must not really be that good if I didn’t get an agent through the traditional querying process.

Imposter Syndrome can be a good thing in small doses because it encourages you to work harder and try your best. Too much, though, and it can demoralize you, making you wonder why you even bother if you will never be good enough.

As I always say on this blog, writing (and everything else in life) is about balance. We want to be a teensy bit insecure, because it makes us want to strive for things and push ourselves further. Total security is complacency, which makes for bad writing.

But we also does not want to be so insecure in our abilities that we give up – or worse, self-sabotage. So, how do we find the balance that banishes Imposter Syndrome? Let’s take a look.

Imposter Syndrome = perfectionism + low self-esteem + social anxiety.

People with Imposter Syndrome tend to be very driven and very hard on themselves. They may also struggle with a bit of social anxiety and assume that everyone is judging them by much higher standards that they really are.

So, I will give you the most brutal advice that dug me out of social anxiety ….

No one cares about you as much as you do.

I used to be pretty shy and uncomfortable in public. I didn’t want to be seen or noticed by people; when I was, I assumed everyone was thinking poorly of me. I had low self-esteem and was very hard on myself. In that myopia, I projected my bad feelings about myself onto everyone else and thought they must always be staring at me.

The reality is that no one on God’s green earth gives anywhere near as much a shit about how I act, how I look, what I think, or what I do as I imagine them to. Now I’m much happier and far more willing to put myself out there.

Everyone else has their own stuff going on, and everyone else cares more about themselves than about you. I’m not saying saying all humans are narcissists or NPCs; we naturally care more about ourselves than anyone else because that’s a survival instinct.

If you have social anxiety, then this epiphany helps you stop worrying so much and allows you to be your authentic self.

But what does this have to do with Imposter Syndrome? It means that no one else is thinking of you as an imposter because they’re not paying that much attention to you. So, if no one’s accusing you of being an imposter, then why are you worrying about it?

The fact that you’re worried about being an imposter means you’ve already achieved something.

You can’t have Imposter Syndrome if you haven’t done anything. For example, I don’t worry about people thinking I’m not a good musician because I don’t play music.

You may say, “well, I’m not published yet.” But you’ve still written something, even if it hasn’t been published.

Do you know how many people insist that they’ll write a book someday but then keep making excuses as to why they can’t? I see them all the time. More than once, someone has demanded I write things for them and then got mad when I suggested they could try doing it themselves. Even when I promise to guide them and work through their ideas with them, they flounce off in a huff because they’re not getting immediate satisfaction.

And now, they’re using stupid AI garbage to get their instant gratification without having to learn anything. At least they’re not bugging me anymore.

If you’ve actually written a full first draft, then you’re way ahead of all these people. Even putting a few words down is still better than they’re doing.

People who haven’t achieved anything whatsoever aren’t typically worried about Imposter Syndrome; they’re too busy confidently stating they are what they are not. Worrying about whether you are good enough means that you have already done something.

Stick to the facts.

The best gift we can give to ourselves is being honest about who we are. This means not beating ourselves up for what we aren’ – but but also not overstating our achievements.

I’m an author. I have published three books, one novella, and one poetry chapbook, as well as some embarrassing earlier publications when I was much too young to be dabbling in that. I will be publishing another book later this year, and there will be six more books in the Eirenic Verses series by 2028.

Overall, I’ve written over two million words of fiction and have been writing seriously for over 15 years. I’ve sold about 650 books as of August 2025: not a lot, but definitely more than many other self-pub authors, and achieved in a little over a year.

This is an accurate assessment of my writing skills because it is based on what I have already done. I’m not saying that I’m the worst writer ever and I’m not insisting I’m a bestselling author; I’m just acknowledging what I have achieved.

In many cases, we don’t see ourselves clearly because we’re too focused on perceptions of ourselves, both external and internal. Describing your achievements makes it harder to feel like an imposter because you’re not basing your self-worth on vague ideas of “making it” or “succeeding.”

Don’t compare yourself to others who are further along.

Maybe you haven’t “achieved” anything yet, or you only have 50,000 words under your belt. That’s okay too. It just means you can’t try to judge yourself by the standards of those who have been doing this longer.

Many newer writers get extremely demoralized when they read their favorite authors and feel like they can never get to that level. But those authors have years of experience, a team of editors, and a hell of a lot of time to poke at every single letter.

Comparing yourself to your favorite author is like comparing your very first drawing ever to Van Gogh’s Starry Night. We would all agree that it would be ridiculous to say a child’s painting can rival one of the masters, but for some reason, people still do this with writing. It’s as if everyone believes that a best-selling author nailed it on their first try and never had to improve.

We should know by now that writing is hard work, and it takes years of practice to become publishable. When you are just starting out, read books for education and entertainment, like a more fun version of a college textbook. But don’t try comparing your own work to it.

Remember that you’re learning. You can only be judged by what you are doing and how you can succeed at this one singular project.

Recognize that you may not have access to traditional markers of success.

The toy market has shifted dramatically in recent years, and it’s all due to Millennials. For the first time in history, adults buying toys for themselves outpaces purchases from parents for their children or children for themselves.

It’s not hard to understand why. Millennials have been forced out of the housing market and denied promotions due to older people refusing to leave their jobs. Many have foregone having children because it’s hard to keep themselves alive, much less another human. Worse still, climate change, growing fascism, and international conflicts make life seem bleak even for those who aren’t struggling financially.

So, when a whole generation finds it almost impossible to achieve all the markers of adulthood, they revert to childlike interests and surround themselves with all the things they couldn’t buy as kids.

I am also a victim of this. One only needs to see my enormous stuffed animal collection to know exactly how I feel about my adulthood status.

Writers, too, are going to feel like they’re not real writers if they can’t achieve the old measures of success as a writer: traditional publication, high book sales, awards from well-respected organizations.

Those things have gotten further and further out of reach for writers in recent years. Agents are scarcer and only take projects that are considered marketable by the notoriously fickle, clout-chasing publishing industry.

We’re in an economic recession, so buyers are more discriminating and aren’t purchasing as much; they’re probably working through their TBR pile or borrowing from the library instead of taking a chance on a new author.

And lastly, awards are often pay-to-play or require industry connections to win. Many won’t accept self-published work at all.

So, of course you won’t feel successful if you’re measuring yourself against a publishing world that doesn’t really exist anymore, but that the average consumer still believes is a viable option. This doesn’t mean that you’re not doing what you need to, just that society isn’t letting you.

Ask yourself about the worst-case scenario.

What would be the most disastrous consequence of being a supposed imposter? Be realistic here. Think about what would actually happen, in the real world, if you were exposed as some fraudulent writer.

People might make fun of you. So what? People make fun of others for stupid things all the time.

Maybe they will say you’re a poser and didn’t actually write what you said you did. Then you show them the receipts, and they have no choice but to accept that yes, you do write a lot.

Maybe they’ll mock you for being self-published. Then you just explain how the industry actually works. You know, like how getting an agent is basically like getting struck by lightning while buying a million-dollar lottery ticket.

If they really hate you, they’ll review bomb you. Then you ask for the fraudulent reviews to be taken down and it’s all good.

Or maybe the worst outcome for you is that you simply don’t get any sales and everyone ignores you. Well, that could have happened even if you were a non-imposter because publishing is the most saturated market on the planet, and it takes years of work to build a following.

Again, no one cares about you as much as you do. These consequences are very unlikely to happen. The worst that will occur is that your ego is bruised, and then you need to work on building your self-esteem.

When you focus on what could actually happen if you were an “imposter,” you realize that it’s not such a scary concept after all. Combine this with listing your achievements and you’ll develop a bombproof sense of who you are as an author.

Accept that every writer is always learning.

Part of the problem with Imposter Syndrome is that it assumes there is a certain group of authors who have “achieved it,” whatever that is. That there is some writer out there who has cracked the code, mastered language, and become some literary demigod.

But there’s not. No writer is perfect. Every writer is always learning because there’s no point in continuing to write if you’re not improving. We often complain about old, jaded authors who are just phoning it in for a paycheck; these are the individuals who have let their work get stale and lost the passion for it, but now they are trapped in contracts and can’t stop.

Considering how far you have to go can help you focus more on what you need to do than how others perceive you.

In writing and in life, our greatest competitor should be ourselves. We are not fighting with other self-published authors, or authors overall, because every writer has a different product and process.

Competing with everyone else will drive you crazy if you let it. There’s a reason that we complain about someone who is always trying to one-up other people about material possessions, accomplishments, or even misery. These behaviors reek of immaturity and insecurity; that’s more likely to turn people against you than churning out mediocre books.

You can be your own worst enemy or your own best friend. Imposter Syndrome tips the scales toward hating yourself, which is the last thing we want.

So let go of all these flawed self-concepts. Be who you are, whoever that is, and don’t worry about what other people think. After all, the only person you can always rely on, for good or ill, is yourself.