#ScribesAndMakers 4/2. What does imposter syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

It's self-doubt, plain and simple. (That self-doubt may be self-inflicted but usually originates from an outside source in one way or another.)

I seldom suffer from it nowadays.

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#ScribesAndMakers Apr 2 - What does impostor syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

Not making light of it, but I have managed to amble through life without having a clue what it meant until reading the other responses to the prompt. Don't think I have it. 🙂

#ScribesAndMakers - 2 Apr. What does impostor syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

Your're not good enough, you don't fit, you're just pretending. Stop saying you're a proper author.

I had it when I first began writing. I had to give myself a good talking to. It was obvious I must be a genuine author. There is no way publishers would accept shitty MS's.
After half a dozen books I think I had that Eureka moment....lol

#ScribesAndMakers 2/4: What does impostor syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

To me, imposter syndrome is the belief that you don't deserve your success because you're not good enough.

I don't think I have imposter syndrome - I do believe my books are good and that I'm a decent writer - but I also believe that true success as an author needs a massive stroke of luck.

And I cannot influence that kind of luck much. My success is very moderate.

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2nd Apr 2026. What does impostor syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

"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."
Oxford English Dictionary

No, I don't. I know my work is unique, in that no one else on the planet could write the exact same books that I write. Not saying my books are better or worse than anyone else's, only unique.

#ScribesAndMakers 2/4: What does impostor syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

It's when you feel like you shouldn't be doing what you're doing because you're faking it and everyone else is real. And you feel a constant fear of being found out coupled with shame for getting away with it. I felt like this for years at the start of my career. But for art, lack of success is my comfort zone. I don't have or particularly want what it takes to be successful - success is way too scary.

#ScribesAndMakers 2 April:
What does impostor syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

Yes, I do. "I'm not a writer, I just make up stories", I tell people after publishing more than 20 books. But I know that my brain is a lying lump of fuck, so we get along fine.

#ScribesAndMakers 2 April:
What does impostor syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

It means thinking you don't belong amongst your peers or colleagues or in an environment of prestige even though you are perfectly qualified to be there.

I had to leave most of those environments because of illness, but I've certainly had it in the past wrt academia. I get it sometimes with my fiction writing, but I've had enough validation to (mostly) know that I'm good. I just get frustrated>

#ScribesAndMakers 2 Apr
What does impostor syndrome mean to you and do you think you have it?

I'm a middle-aged white guy. I'm not subjected to systemic injustice that would make me doubt myself unfairly or feel like I don't belong among my peers or deserve any success that I do achieve. I get a fair shot.

To the extent I'm an OK writer, I'm happy with that. I don't sell many books, and I prefer to be realistic about the likely reason: my target market is small and they haven't heard of me.