How to Overcome the Imposter Syndrome Gremlin

Author Nicola Jackson and life coach Teresa Wilson, co-writers of Seven Creative Gremlins, reveal how to get past that nagging feeling that you’re not good enough

So, you’re ready to begin your novel. You’ve got an idea that you’re really excited about and you’re starting to think about getting your thoughts down on paper. There’s no harm in having a go, right? And you don’t actually have to tell anyone you’re doing it. What could possibly go wrong?

Right on cue, up stomps your Imposter Syndrome Gremlin, bellowing, ‘Write something? You? HA! Are you kidding me? You’re not a writer!’

We all have Creative Gremlins – pesky internal critics that seek to derail our writing journey. In our book, Seven Creative Gremlins, we’ve identified the main offenders that can prevent writers from starting, sticking with or finishing a creative project. 

Imposter Syndrome Gremlin is usually the first to crop up and often targets new writers; those who have been eyeing up a creative pursuit for many years but haven’t yet had the courage to do anything about it. Such writers, being inexperienced, are very vulnerable to this Gremlin’s harshly negative schtick. 

The Imposter Syndrome Gremlin can be so hurtful and so convincing that, after hearing its merciless judgement, many aspiring writers immediately put their creative projects away for good, mortified that they ever had the audacity to think they could be a writer in the first place.

But, then again, Imposter is an equal opportunities beast. It’ll target experienced writers, too, pointing out, ‘Sure, you managed to fool them before, but this time everyone’s going to realise that you don’t belong. Yeah, start that writing project but, just so you know, you’re wasting your time. In fact, you know what? Stop embarrassing yourself by trying to be a writer because everyone knows you’re a fake.’

Brutal. 

Why the Imposter Syndrome Gremlin is so persuasive

Okay, now we’re aware that, just as we embark on a piece of writing, this Gremlin is likely to turn up and declare that we’re simply not up to the challenge. But why are we so eager to believe it? 

The short answer is, not believing you could be a writer may be connected to some limiting beliefs, stories from the past you’ve been carrying around unchallenged for years. There are two parts to this. The first is what you believe a writer to be. The second is what you believe yourself to be.

What is a writer, anyway?

What do you picture when you think of a writer? Someone accomplished and at the top of their game, recognised and respected by the literary press? Someone making huge amounts of money from their work? Or perhaps you picture the starving artist, passionately and single-mindedly toiling over their art, but with a terrible personal life and a deepening alcohol problem? Whatever you imagine a writer to be, if you don’t fit the description it will be difficult for you to call yourself a writer. 

We prefer the OED’s definition of a writer: ‘A person who has written something or who writes in a particular way.’ Now, listen, we get it. Calling yourself a writer can feel very exposing so we’re not telling you to have it embossed on a T-shirt, get it put on your passport or announce it to strangers as your calling in life (unless you want to, in which case go for it). But what we are saying is that you could experiment with thinking of yourself as a writer – i.e. someone who writes. Because the truth is, you cannot wait to ‘feel like a writer’ before you begin. It is the beginning to write that turns you into a writer.

Who am I, anyway?

If, when you think about writing, you start to feel anxious or uncomfortable, it might be that the action conflicts with the story you’ve been telling yourself about who you are. In your past, you may have developed a belief about yourself, others, or the world that clashes with the notion, ‘I am a writer.’ This means that, when you start to think it, you activate an earlier, contradictory thought and it makes you feel bad. The earlier thought could be something like ‘I’m not an imaginative person.’ Or ‘If I express myself, people will laugh.’ Or ‘I shouldn’t show off.’ Or ‘People from backgrounds like mine don’t do things like that.’ 

As our brains like to use the least amount of energy possible – and discomfort means expending energy – they prefer running old ‘maps of the world’ rather than investing the effort in creating new ones, meaning many of us are already primed not to believe we are writers or artists. 

Getting past the Imposter Syndrome Gremlin

The important thing to realise is that everyone suffers from the Imposter Syndrome Gremlin at one stage or another, no matter how experienced they are. The trick isn’t to be such a ‘great’ writer that you never feel like an imposter (impossible). The trick is to expect the Imposter Syndrome Gremlin to turn up and to know how to tackle it when it does.  

Here are some things to try next time Imposter comes knocking.

Pay attention

Notice what is coming up for you when you think about starting your writing project. Tune in more closely to what you feel in your body. Physiological reactions are clues to what’s going on in your mind. If you feel tense or anxious, that’s fine. You’ve identified the Gremlin. You’re on the right track. Changing your limiting beliefs is a process that doesn’t happen overnight, but starting to become more aware of them can be a powerful first step.

Act as if

Does it serve you to hold the belief, ‘I am not a writer’? Does it help you create? If not, then switch the thought and act ‘as if’, even if you don’t believe the new thought yet. Every time you do something even slightly creative and then catch yourself feeling a sense of defeatism or disapproval, just switch your mindset and tell yourself, ‘I am a writer!’ You don’t have to believe it immediately, but just get used to countering your Gremlin as this will help you to understand that its voice is not your voice. 

Journal 

Pouring out a stream of consciousness onto the page, without censoring or judgement, is an incredible resource for anyone who wants to clear some space in their brains for the good stuff to appear. By developing the habit of regular journalling we strengthen our connection to our creativity and begin to reclaim the artist inside us. 

Eventually, once you notice this Gremlin popping up like clockwork every time to start to write, you can learn not to listen to its pointless negativity. You’ll understand that being a creative person does not require anyone’s permission. All it requires is action. After all, the only way to be a writer is to write.

This is an abridged excerpt from the book Seven Creative Gremlins: Write your way through doubt and fear to claim your creative life by Nicola Jackson and Teresa Wilson. 

There are many more Gremlins to look out for, from persuasive Procrastinator to haranguing Hyper-Critical, from terrorising Tyrant to snooty Too-Cool-For-School. Want to find out which Gremlin is derailing your writing journey and how to get past it? Take this one minute quiz

Find Nicola and Teresa at www.theunstoppableauthor.com.