Enough already with “Imposter Syndrome”

If you think you’re faking it, you probably are

As if we didn’t have enough crap to deal with, like the pandemic and unemployment and hate crimes and in the U.S., the Miscreant in the White House, now we’re heaping boatloads of even more poopoo on ourselves with our latest phobia du jour: Imposter syndrome.

That’s right. There’s no need to go into a detailed explanation as everyone here is familiar with this emotional glitch or whatever the hell you want to call it, whereby even when we’re successful, we feel like frauds. Like we don’t deserve whatever accolades come our way as a result of that success.

WTF, people? If you’re “suffering” from IS (not IBS, mind you), you need a good shaking and a stiff drink. Or you need to go back to the drawing board because perhaps your success is a result of luck as opposed to talent and acumen. Only you can attest to that.

Let’s talk IS amongst we writers because that’s my territory and it wouldn’t be fair for me to attempt to ascertain why a successful gynecologist, for example, would feel like an imposter.

If you write a stellar story and it gets a ton of views and reads and claps and is curated up the butt, do you genuinely feel bad about that? If so, why? Was it a “one and done” or are you just lacking in self-confidence? Did you plagiarize another writer’s story? If so, you’ve taken “fraudulent” to a whole other level. A criminal one.

If you’re invited to become an editor on one of Medium’s largest publications, do you believe this is a fluke and that you don’t deserve the invite or the admiration for your work that instigated it?

If you earn $500 per month or more on this platform, is that because you’re incredibly lucky or talented? (Maybe some of you shouldn’t answer this one.)

Here’s where it gets dicey and complicated: I’d like to believe that the big earners on Medium are where they’re at because they’ve got the goods, but we know that’s not true. What some of them possess is a talent for sucking in clueless readers who are drawn to click-bait dreck like maggots to road-kill.

But, do you think that this group is suffering from Imposter Syndrome? Hell, no! They’re way too arrogant!

As I said, this is a complicated issue because it appears that the serious writers, those committed to honing their craft and sharing only quality content are the ones who feel like fakes.

Not this writer. Although I’ve had so many ups and downs in my career that even I’m amazed that I keep at it, never once have I felt like a fraud. Like I was phoning it in or that I was “lucky.” Hell, if I was lucky, I’d be writing my acceptance speech for being awarded the Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay. But I’m not whining about it. I’ll just give my manager some shit. Oh wait — she’s been MIA for months, now. Oh well. Them’s the breaks.

And friends, even though like everyone, I have bad days where I don’t put out my best work, I don’t feel that this is a result of my being an imposter. I chalk it up to having a shitty day! We’re not perfect. We’re not supposed to be.

So if we need labels, how about this one? We’re human.

Now, it must be noted that some of the people I worked with and for in the past were imposters in that they were way over their heads. They somehow talked themselves into positions that they neither deserved nor understood. But again, their arrogance carried them through. I and others may have considered them to be frauds, but they didn’t.

The American Psychological Association makes the point that many people who experience IS grew up in households where the pressure to achieve was fierce. Hallelujah! One more thing to blame our parents for. Not mine, though. They were too busy drinking and fighting. To their credit, they were proud of me and my siblings. I believe they imagined my winning a Pulitzer Prize one day, and here I am. In my basement pandemically attired in my usual baggy pants and saggy shirt, my hair piled on top of my head, and with a permanent squint due to staring at my computer for hours.

So, we’re all under pressure, every single day. Should we beat ourselves up even more? Especially now?

Look, if a woman wears a padded bra, does that make her an imposter? No. She just has small boobies!

If you write a story and it goes viral and you’re fairly certain you’ll never do it again, does that make you an imposter? Or lacking in self-esteem? In other words, why do we need to brand everything?

Perhaps those individuals who do feel like frauds or believe that their success is due to the Universe’s aligning itself in a particular way — perhaps those people just need to step back and take a good hard look at where they’ve been and where they want to go. They need to be honest with themselves.

It’s possible that indeed they’ve been lucky. Because shit isn’t fair. But they don’t have to ride the crest of that luck forever. Do you know what they can do?

If they can’t enjoy the fruits of their efforts or those they’ve been given, they can ditch the self-imposed bullshit labels, hunker down, and work harder. Not sexy, perhaps, but effective.

Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.

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