Naomi D. Nakashima on Overcoming Self-Doubt: How to Conquer Imposter Syndrome and Write Your Book with Confidence

By: Naomi D. Nakashima

Have you ever felt like a fraud, even when you've achieved success? You ever look at those achievements and diminish them somehow?

Kind of like when someone tells you that you’re a good writer and you dismiss it because they’re your friend or your parent or your sibling or partner, so of course they have to tell you you’re good.

Imposter syndrome is an internalized feeling of inadequacy, despite external evidence of success. It's common among high-achievers and can affect writers in particular.

What is Imposter Syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern in which individuals doubt their skills, accomplishments, and talents and have an internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. Those who experience imposter syndrome often attribute their successes to luck or external factors rather than their own abilities. Even in the face of  external evidence of their competence, they remain convinced they do not really deserve the recognition or accolades they receive.

For writers, this imposter syndrome often comes with a feeling that they don’t have “the right” to write the story they want to write.

Why it's important to overcome it in writing

As you can imagine, trying to write a story while at the same time feeling like you don’t have “the right” to tell that story can lead to a lot of complications. Add to that the fact that writing often entails a level of vulnerability, and any feelings of imposter syndrome can be exacerbated quickly if not addressed.

Writers often put themselves out there with their ideas and stories, facing criticism and the possibility of rejection. When we believe that we are imposters or that our success is undeserved, we become less likely to take risks and share our work with others. This can hold us back from achieving our goals as writers and hinder our creativity. In order to be successful as a writer, it's essential to learn how to recognize and overcome imposter thoughts so that we can write with confidence and authenticity.

Strategies for Recognizing and Challenging Imposter Thoughts

One way to recognize imposter thoughts is by paying attention to the language you use when talking about yourself and your writing. Do you often use negative self-talk or minimize your achievements?

If so, try challenging those thoughts with evidence that proves them wrong. For example, if you think "My writing isn't as good as other writers," look for positive feedback from readers or editors who enjoyed your work. And remember the phrase “facts over feelings.” Looking at this evidence that your writing is good won’t do you much good if you turn around and rely instead on your “feeling” that it wasn’t deserved for some reason. Instead of focusing on your feeling about the feedback, focus on the fact that you got the feedback.

Additionally, try surrounding yourself with supportive people who believe in your abilities as a writer. They can offer encouragement and constructive feedback that will help build confidence in your skills.

By recognizing these common imposter thoughts and developing strategies for overcoming them or even proving them to be wrong, you can break through your mental barriers and focus on your craft with clarity and confidence. 

Building Confidence as a Writer

Writing a book can be a daunting task, especially when you're plagued by self-doubt and imposter syndrome. So let’s work on some ways to build that confidence back up!

Celebrate your successes

When you’re feeling vulnerable and inadequate, it’s pretty easy to see all the mistakes—the low word count, the lack of writing time, the slow progress on your book. However, it's important to take time to celebrate your successes, no matter how small they may seem.

Did you finish a chapter? Did you receive positive feedback from a beta reader?

Celebrate these milestones and give yourself credit for the hard work that went into achieving them. Writing is tough, so it's crucial to acknowledge your accomplishments along the way.

Surround yourself with supportive people

Although writing can be a solitary activity, you don’t have to be totally alone. Surrounding yourself with supportive people can make all the difference in your writing journey.

Find other writers who understand what you're going through and can offer encouragement or advice when needed. Join writing groups or attend workshops where you can connect with like-minded individuals who share your passion for storytelling.

Learn from hurdles and setbacks

One of the most valuable things you can do as a writer is to learn from your hurdles and setbacks. When something isn't working in your writing - whether it's a plot point that fell flat or dialogue that doesn't ring true - take some time to reflect on what went wrong.

Start by asking yourself some questions: What were my intentions with this scene/character/plot point? What did I hope to achieve? And why didn’t it achieve that? Once you've identified what went wrong, brainstorm some ways you could improve upon it next time.

Other hurdles might include distractions, things like phone calls or family members vying for your attention. 

It's also important not to beat yourself up over mistakes or failures. Remember that every successful writer has encountered plenty of obstacles along the way - it's all part of the journey!

Instead, approach each setback as an opportunity for growth and improvement. By learning from your mistakes and staying focused on your goals, you'll be well on your way to overcoming imposter syndrome and writing the book of your dreams.

Find Your Writing Voice

One of the biggest challenges writers face when dealing with imposter syndrome is feeling like they don't have a unique voice. This can cause them to doubt their abilities and struggle to find the motivation to write.

I’ve been saying for years: some of the best writing ever only comes when the writer is so deep inside their comfort zone that theirs is the only voice they can hear. Embracing your unique voice means being willing to take risks and write from the heart.

Unfortunately, a lot of new authors hate their writing because they’re waiting for it to sound like someone else wrote it—some more authorly writer. Don't try to mimic someone else's writing style or be something you're not just because you think it will make you more successful. Instead, focus on what makes your writing stand out and embrace that as your strength.

Final Thoughts

Imposter syndrome is a common experience that many writers face. It can hold you back from reaching your full potential as a writer, but it's important to recognize that it doesn't have to.

By understanding what imposter syndrome is, identifying your own imposter thoughts, and building confidence as a writer, you can overcome this hurdle and write the book you've always dreamed of. Remember to celebrate your successes, no matter how small they may seem.

Naomi D. Nakashima is a bestselling author of nonfiction, a ghostwriter with 20 years experience, a trained psychotherapist, and a TikTok writing coach with thousands of followers who attend her coaching events and regular Q&As. Everything I Need to Know About Parenting I Learned from Watching Star Trek, her first book published under her name, became an international Amazon bestseller and stayed on the bestseller list for step-parenting and blended families for three years.

Kathie Giorgio on How To Handle Writing The Hard Stuff

By: Kathie Giorgio

“You say what you want to say when you don't care who's listening.”

― Allen Ginsberg

When you ask writers why they write what they write, you will get as many answers as there are to the question, “What is the meaning of life?” We writers write for every reason imaginable, and some of us change those reasons with every project, while others gnaw at the same bone our whole life through. 

And then there are writers like me, who basically just can’t keep our mouths shut.

I’ve been called a “dark” writer, a “disturbing” (thank goodness not “disturbed”) writer, a “fearless” writer, an “honest” writer. Of them all, I like “honest” best. I tend to write about the things that people have very strong feelings about – and consequently, if they see something that defies that, they get angry.

I’ve written about abuse and infidelity, rape, and especially the treatment of women involved in all of these. In my nonfiction, I wrote about being assaulted by a man in a Make America Great Again hat, a few days after Trump’s inauguration. Most recently, I’ve written about suicide, not about the people left behind, but about how those who choose to end their own lives feel, and how they are treated. 

There have been times I’ve wished I could be a “light” writer, and some of my favorite writers are exactly that. But I find that what most often makes me run for my computer is something that twists my heart and my psyche, and I write about it in order to find out more, to learn, which is what I hope my readers do too. And ultimately, I write to help.

There are some drawbacks to this, of course. These are things you have to learn to deal with, if you’re going to do this kind of writing. First, look at how I am described as a writer, that I just listed above. Hearing yourself called dark and disturbing is…disturbing. You may question why you write such things, why you’re interested in them, and I’ve certainly done a lot of that. And sometimes, it’s right in your face. I was teaching once at a writing conference, and I happened to be close by the book-selling table when I saw a woman pick up my novel, Rise From The River. This book is about a young single mother who is raped, and it covers the issue of 39 of our states giving the rapist and his family more rights than the victim. Someone standing next to the woman who was looking at my book said, “Oh, you should get that. I’ve read it, and it’s amazing!” The woman put the book back down. “No,” she said. “It’s just too dark.” And she wiped her hand on her jeans like she’d been holding something dirty.

That hurt. And these things will hurt. I write, and other controversial writers write, with a sense of sincerely wanting to shed light on something, usually something that needs to be changed. So to be treated as part of the problem, and not part of the answer, can be difficult. So what do you do?

You do your best to not remember the woman who put your book down, and remember all those that picked it up. 

That’s a universal problem, it seems, across the board of writers. From the writers I know, to the writers I teach, to myself, it is somehow much easier to remember the rejections and insults than it is to remember the acceptances and praise. You might have to print out some of these good comments and keep them somewhere where you can readily see them. 

And you always need to remember your motivation. You don’t write to hurt; you write to help, and to try to make the hurt go away.

Another issue that arises when you write about controversial issues is, in a sense, battle fatigue. Writers sink into their characters. We are immersed in them. When we’re not writing, the characters follow us around and tap us often on the back, reminding us there’s a story to be told. But when you have a “dark” story to tell, it’s very possible to start feeling pretty dark yourself. 

The solution? Take a break. Write something else entirely different. Don’t write at all. Spend a week reading nothing but comic strips. Walk in the sun. Hug your favorite person. Let them hug you. 

And then remind yourself that you’re a good person and get back to it. 

If you’re writing about controversial issues, you’re doing so because you care. Because you want to make a difference, because you want to help. You want change. And the most important thing about writing on these topics is to keep doing it. To keep reminding yourself of your motivation. You aren’t writing for shock value (some writers are), you aren’t writing for attention (some writers are), and you aren’t writing to hurt someone (some writers are). The most important thing to do when writing about controversial issues is to be true to yourself. Remember who you are and why you’re writing. 

And then just keep going. 

Kathie Giorgio is the author of seven novels, two story collections, an essay collection, and four poetry collections. Her latest novel, Hope Always Rises, will be released on February 28, 2023. She’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in fiction and poetry and awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, the Silver Pen Award for Literary Excellence, the Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence, and the Eric Hoffer Award In Fiction. Her poem “Light” won runner-up in the 2021 Rosebud Magazine Poetry Prize.  In a recent column, Jim Higgins, the books editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, listed Giorgio as one of the top 21 Wisconsin writers of the 21st century. Kathie is also the director and founder of AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop LLC, an international creative writing studio. 

JL Lycette on How I Write When I Have A Demanding “Day Job”: It’s Okay Not To Write Every Day

By: JL Lycette

Many people are proponents of writing consistently every day and setting goals. For example, 1000 words a day. 

But what if you can’t write every day. If you have a demanding day job or a busy family, or maybe, I don’t know, you just don’t like writing every day. Can you still be a writer?

I am here before you (virtually) to show you that, yes, you can. My first book was published last month (March 2023), and my second book will be published later this year, in November 2023, and I do not write every day.

I didn’t start writing fiction until I was 43 years old. By that time, I had a busy (non-writing) career and family. How the heck was I to fit this new writing habit into my already busy life?

It’s a good thing I didn’t research that question back at the beginning, or I might have given up. 

When I started writing my first book in 2016, I didn’t know if anything would ever come of it, let alone whether it would ever be published. But somehow, I had this story idea in my brain and characters that wouldn’t leave me alone until their story was told.

I mostly wrote on weekends in large chunks of words. I didn’t know at the time that it wasn’t common to write 4000-5000 words in a day. And one weekend, which I remember now like a fever dream, I wrote 10,000 words in a session. (A feat I haven’t been able to repeat).

It was only when the book was finished, and I googled “what to do when you finish writing a book,” that I came across all the writing advice.

But here’s the thing I’ve learned about advice: take what works for you, leave what doesn’t. If the idea of writing in long sessions for hours on the weekends horrifies you, don’t try that. Maybe writing in smaller sessions each day works for you. 

I mean, does it matter if you write 1000 words a day or 7000 words in a weekend? As long as the words eventually get written? One could paint a little bit each day or a lot for an entire weekend, and both approaches will result in a finished painting. 

I mostly write on my laptop, in Word (yes, I’m a dinosaur), but sometimes I grab a notebook and pen; or in the middle of the night, I have to write something in the Notes app on my phone. Sometimes on the commute to work, I get an idea and have to scribble it as fast as possible on a blank piece of paper in five minutes before starting my day job.

Some days, when I get home from work, I’m in the mood to write. Most weekdays, however, I don’t have the energy. So I don’t write those days. I wait until the weekend.

There are a lot of caveats to my advice. First of all, my kids are older. They’re tweens and teens, and they actually sleep now. Like, a lot, on the weekends. So I can write for hours on those mornings before they wake up. I’ve had other parents write to ask me to please tell them how to write with young children. And my answer to them was: I don’t know how parents with very young children write. Maybe some of them can comment here and tell us.

But here’s the thing, none of us are superhuman. Don’t try to hold yourself to some imaginary standard that probably doesn’t even exist. That’s something I’ve had to learn in both my day job and my writing journey.

The best way to write is the way that works for you.

I hope this post will help you to write the way you want, when you want, and not beat yourself up if you can’t—or simply choose not to—write every day.

JL / Jennifer Lycette is a novelist, award-winning essayist, rural physician, wife, and mother. She has a degree in biochemistry from the University of San Francisco and attained her medical degree at the University of Washington. Mid-career, she discovered narrative medicine in her path back from physician burnout and has been writing ever since. Her essays can be found in Intima, NEJM, JAMA and other journals; and online at Doximity and Medscape. She is an alumna of the 2019 Pitch Wars Mentoring program. Her other published speculative fiction can be found in the anthology And If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing: Parenting Stories Gone Speculative (Alternating Current Press). The Algorithm Will See You Now is her first novel and is a 2023 Screencraft Cinematic Book Competition Finalist. Her second novel (title and cover reveals coming soon!) will be out in November 2023.