Initially, one of the biggest things that held me back from writing was imposter syndrome. Which is strange for me to say, as it is not something I normally struggle with.
At the beginning of my writing journey, it was hard! I kept thinking I was failing, and eventually, I had to ignore everything and just write for myself so that I could try to overcome that. Now that I've been doing it for a while (almost a year!), imposter syndrome is rearing its head again.
I know why though, it's because I've been comparing myself to other authors, specifically the self-published ones, when I have no reason to. In a moment of self reflection, I needed to go back to basics here and remind myself of a few things:
Ebook is my main priority as an author, I only offer print as an option so that I am more accessible to more readers. Kind of like how Michelle Madow does things.
Just because I do things one way and another author does things another, it doesn't mean any of us are wrong, so why am I comparing myself to said author?
I tried to take one of my books and start marking up what could be changed because I saw another author do this, and let me just tell you, I didn't get past the first five pages. Because knowing what I know now, I would rewrite the book. Which I won't do in this case, because that was the book I needed to write at the time, and I'm still proud of it.
If you go look at the definition of imposter syndrome, this is where things start to become a bit clearer.
the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
As humans, our nature leans towards wanting to be accepted, and it's hard to be accepted on the internet by literal strangers. So I have a theory, that less people are opting to self publish for this reason. Usually because the reviews can be brutal, and encourage us to give up.
I've actually seen a traditionally published author recently want to try to leave publishing completely, because of the amount of negative reviews she's gotten. That's how intense it can get.
But it also has it's moments. I'm still not over the reviewer who said one of my books was her favourite read of the year. And for me, that over shadows the negative side.
If you're thinking of writing, and you've made it this far, I want to encourage you to make the leap. I promise it's worth it. And while I have no answers yet in overcoming imposter syndrome completely, I promise consistency and not giving up, goes a long way in helping give those voices a little less power.