Am I a Real Writer?

Otherwise known as Imposter Syndrome.

I see this question come up a lot online. And for once, this is something I don’t suffer from — at least not yet. I do, however, have some thoughts on overcoming it. As mentioned in my post about anxiety, finding that little unemotional voice in your head is key.

Instead of ‘Am I a real writer?’, maybe ask yourself these questions:

Do I write regularly (either in my free time or professionally)?

I thought for a long time that I had to be writing novels to be a ‘writer’, but the truth of the matter is that for the past 20 years or so, I have been writing regularly. Almost every day.

When I wasn’t working on creative writing projects, I was writing articles for online magazines and blogs. There were a few years where I was writing emails professionally, and then later…