How did I cure my imposter syndrome slash writer’s block? I attended a Fantasy Writer’s Conference held in Nashville Tennessee called UTOPiAcon. Sadly, it is the last year for this brilliant team to get together, and while I regret my late entrance to the event, I took away important information. The different panels offered newbies, such as myself, an understanding that all my struggles were shared by these seasoned authors. All the things I thought only I thought, they had those same thoughts. Is this book good? Do all my friends and family hate it, but won’t tell me? Is it crap or is it the next New York Times Best seller? Yeah—right wouldn’t that be the best thing to happen EVER. Other things they said included that after the release
of any book you will experience a type of burn-out. One author, with 48 books under her belt, told me she felt all the same insecurities as I did with my first one. Oh self doubt how I loathe you. She said with all 48 books she felt the same sea of doubt wash over her almost drowning her in the process. While misery does seem to love company, this information, verified by other equally successful authors, all confirmed what she told me. The doubt, the rise of old insecurities, the nagging ‘you aren’t good enough’, no one will read, what if everyone hates what you write—is part of the process. Yeah you get it. Creative people of all types experience this self doubt reflection. It’s inevitable when you pour out your inner most feelings and emotions expressing it to the masses.
How to deal with this you ask? One very astute author answered “by cultivating a relationship with yourself where you encourage yourself by using words and phrases that empower your internal voice”. Is this new information? No. I am a licensed mental health professional, albeit, retired in my mind. So do I not already know this? Yes I do. However, the way she delivered this information was illuminating. It hit me. It broke up my sense of being adrift. It, in essence, relit my creative juices that had stalled. I also experienced a sense of what genre my books really fall into. Fantasy, yes. Romance, a reluctant yes, and my new work in progress paranormal. For now I will work in these two different sub-genres of Fantasy: Romance and Paranormal. Growth. In conclusion, I experienced new growth and learned flow in writing is critical and flow in life even more so. I am so glad my extremely-introverted-self attended an event that scared me, yet I gained a new understanding of myself, my writing, and I can do an extrovert really well when I need to.
Thanks for reading! Happy days ahead for all of us and get creative.
~ B. R. Maryse