Feeling Like a Fraud? How To Get Over Impostor Syndrome

We see those professional writers and entrepreneurs bask in the glory of their successful careers. They deliver quality work, become an authority in their niche, and seem to connect well with their audience. People get the idea that they definitely know what they are doing.

But beneath that surface can be a frustrated individual who feels like a fraud despite the glaring evidence of success.

We have all been there, one way or another. One minute, we’re feeling a sense of accomplishment with our work, and then next, we’re dragging ourselves down, flooded with guilt, because we feel undeserving of any kind of merit.

“Is it because of pure luck, or is it because of talent?” we may wonder.

Writers’ Rough Drafts – Episode #40 With Susan Shain

Or listen on: iTunes| Stitcher| Spotify| Google Play| Download

Susan Shain is a freelance writer specializing in travel, food, and personal finance. Her work has appeared in publications like The New York Times, CNN Travel, The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Playboy, and on NPR’s website, among others. After realizing that working in a corporate environment in public relations or consulting was not the life she wanted, she sought out a number of seasonal jobs (for about six years) that took her on a journey around the planet again and again. And she documented the whole experience on her old travel blogging site, Travel Junkette.

Susan worked for a couple years as a Senior Writer at The Penny Hoarder, considered to be one of the fastest growing media companies in the U.S. But the pull of the road and freelancing was too much, and she set back out on her own, eventually starting the website WheretoPitch.com, which helps other writers and freelancers identify different publications and outlets that might be a good fit for their pitches and submissions. Additionally, she publishes a monthly newsletter with the hottest submission opportunities on the web and released her first book, The Ultimate Guide to Seasonal Jobs, last year.

Avoid Costly Proofreading Mistakes By Planning Ahead

The proofreader, the last person in the chain of people who guide, suggest, and make changes to writing before it is published, is generally the one who gets the “blame” when things go wrong with that piece of content you want to publish.

If you’ve put your soul into writing a book or a personal essay, you want it to be perfect. So, how do you get to “perfect”?

How Watching TV Can Make You a Better Writer

What’s your favorite TV show to fold laundry to? You know, the one you can half pay attention to and still keep up with the plot?

Maybe you don’t have any shows you only half-watch because everything on TV right now is so good. Peak TV is a real thing.

Or maybe you think watching TV is a waste of time. It’s a “guilty pleasure” or a purely leisure activity.

I’ve seen writers who encourage others to trade TV watching for book reading, but those activities don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Yes, to be a really good writer, you have to be a really good reader. But, my friends, there is some excellent TV on right now. And if you want to be a better writer, you should be watching some of it.