Imposter Syndrome: Who Qualifies as a Writer?
Imposter Syndrome: Who Qualifies as a Writer?
For the last 10 years, my dream was to become a writer and transition into full-time freelance writing work, and in May 2019, I went for it. I started a podcast, did a few photoshoots, created a website, and got serious when it came to working on my manuscripts. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I needed to do it, nonetheless.
Once I started this journey, fear set in. Not only was I putting myself out there, telling people my dirty laundry and sharing my heart, I felt like I didn’t fall under the umbrella of a writer. Everything I wrote and everything I recorded felt foreign. I immediately came down with imposter syndrome. How could I call myself a writer when I didn’t have a writing resume, I’d never been published, and I thought “real” writers worked for companies like NPR? This fear sent me down a rabbit hole of doubt, but it pushed me to answer the following questions: What is a writer, and how does a person become a writer?
Looking for a Definition
I thought back to grad school and looked at all my favorite authors. Well, wasn’t that a mistake. All my favorites were miserable addicts who used pain as a vehicle for their work. They suffered tremendous losses, lived through World Wars, and some escaped government persecution, not to mention the women who had to write under pen names to get published. Was this my fate?
I kept moving forward, telling myself to just keep swimming in this sea of words. I sat at hipster cafes trying to perfect intros for the podcast and revised my cover letters obsessively to a publishable standard. I also worked tirelessly on varied essays and my novels, searching for “something to say,” but through these struggles of faking it til’ you make it, I realized I was doing it all wrong. I finally found the definition of a writer.
Writing is simply conveying a thought, idea, message, or story through the art of putting words on a blank page, which means being a writer is that simple; just write. I was and am a writer. Every day I sit down to write, I regain the label, the definition, the title. I was so focused on trying to say something important or say something in a way that sounded like 19th-century poetry that I lost sight of my personal narrative and my unique voice. It was time to release any preconceived notion I had about writing and stop playing the comparison game. It was time to see what I had to offer and stop comparing my life, my pain, and my vision to everyone and everything that had come before me.
Writing Without Expectation
When it comes to writing, especially to pay the bills, you can get lost in the world of trying to prove yourself. I was lost in this new world for months. I tried to perfect everything I created, looking for “bigger” words or more complex sentences. I so desperately wanted to be the one to say something “new” and important. The farther I traveled down that road, the more insecure I became. But here’s what I learned: you can’t write with the intention of selling a novel, getting that dream job, or getting people to like your work. Your only job when qualifying yourself as a writer is to simply write. Write it out and sit with the end result. Don’t compare. Don’t even try. Just write.
The real message here is to believe in yourself and the rest will come in time. Think about it like weightlifting. You don’t walk into the gym on day one about put up 250lb. You start small and work your way up towards your goal weight. Writing is the same way. Every time you sit down to write, every time you practice, you are honing that skill and figuratively adding more weight to your bar.
You may not make it to 250lbs, but you’ll get closer each day. The same is true for writing. You may not be the next Hemingway, but you will become your own best version of yourself, and that’s who the person writing will help you find--you. And when you find “you” in your words, no one else’s can ever compare.
Just Write
So, what does it mean to be a writer? Being a writer means sitting down and making time to write. Maybe it’s once a week or maybe it’s every day, but being a writer isn’t some fancy term that means you have to drink yourself to death or have the worst childhood ever. Being a writer means you have a message to share with the world, and no matter what that message is, it’s important because it comes from you.
Calling yourself a writer is realizing that no one else can offer your story or your perspective. That’s the beauty in the title of your personal narrative. You get to share what you want, your way. That doesn’t mean everyone is going to “get it” or like it but having a story and writing it down qualifies you as a bonafide writer. How did I become a writer? I started writing and never stopped.
We are all the main characters in our own stories. Everything we do adds to our narrative. Just like the protagonists in our favorite books or shows, we are living out and creating the chapters of our lives each day. Don’t ever let anyone tell you you aren’t a writer; you are the only person who gets to make that choice. If you’re in need of writing help or looking to strengthen your voice, contact The Storyteller Agency and let us help you find the confidence you need to share your narrative with the world.
Jennifer Carnivale, Storyteller
Author’s Bio:
Jennifer, otherwise known as Jenn with two Ns, is a tattooed teacher and music-lover looking to change the world one word at a time. Living in the land of the witches in Salem, MA, she spends her day as a high school ELA teacher and puts on her writing cap when she gets home. She’s currently working on nonfiction workbooks and essays relating to relationships, self-help, and getting out of your own way.
Jenn received a dual master’s from Simmons University in Boston in Literature and Teaching. She’s worked as an adjunct for numerous colleges teaching the art and skill of writing. From fiction to creative nonfiction, from proper email etiquette to analytical reflections, she does it all. She also acts as an educational content creator for various websites and loves to add flare and fun to advertising/marketing blogs and postings. Her personal writing joy is creating content for addiction recovery centers around the US in hopes of helping people seek the treatment they need and deserve.
In her free time, Jenn produces a podcast called Someone Needs to Hear It with the goal of spreading stories across the globe to create a more understanding a loving world, but she’s not all work and no play. Jenn spends most of her “off” time reading at home with her cat, Kylo, people watching at coffee shops, and traveling the world the second her teaching contract ends in June.
Jenn’s not your average WFH writer. She’s a free-spirited soul looking to push the boundaries of storytelling by adding authentic voice, style and love to all her projects. She believes, “Everything we do is a narrative. It’s how you frame it that dictates your life.”
