“You feel like a fraud because you’re growing. Comfortable people don’t feel like impostors—they feel bored. I’d rather you feel terrified and creating than comfortable and stuck.”
— L.A. Walton, The Book Maven
Let me guess: you just did something brave. You called yourself a writer at a party. You submitted something to a literary magazine. You told someone about your podcast idea. And now there’s a voice in your head screaming, ‘WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?’
Welcome to Impostor Syndrome: The Unwanted Guest at Every Creative’s Table. It shows up uninvited, eats all your confidence, and doesn’t even have the decency to leave when the party’s over.
The Impostor Syndrome Checklist
If you’ve checked three or more of these boxes, congratulations—you’re a creative with impostor syndrome, which means you’re a creative:
| Symptom | Translation |
| You downplay your accomplishments. | You did the thing, then convinced yourself it wasn’t a big deal. |
| You attribute success to luck. | Clearly the universe made a clerical error in your favor. |
| You wait to feel ‘ready’ before acting. | Spoiler: ready is not a feeling. It’s a decision. |
| You over-prepare and over-research. | Because if you KNOW everything, maybe they won’t find out you’re faking. |
| You avoid calling yourself a writer/creator. | You’ll say ‘I dabble’ or ‘I’m working on something’ instead. |
| You feel like the only one struggling. | Plot twist: literally every creative you admire has felt this way. |
The Truth About Frauds
Here’s the irony of impostor syndrome: actual frauds don’t worry about being frauds. People who are genuinely faking it don’t lie awake at night wondering if they’re good enough. The very fact that you’re worried about it is evidence that you CARE. And caring is the opposite of faking.
Reframing the Fraud Feeling
- Instead of: ‘I’m not qualified.’ Try: ‘I’m still learning, and that’s what makes my perspective fresh.’
- Instead of: ‘Everyone else knows more than me.’ Try: ‘Everyone else is also Googling things. Trust me.’
- Instead of: ‘I don’t deserve to be here.’ Try: ‘I earned my way here, even if it doesn’t feel like it yet.’
- Instead of: ‘What if they find out I’m faking?’ Try: ‘What if they find out I’m amazing and I’m the last one to know?’
Your Move, Creative
Right now, I want you to say this out loud: ‘I am a creative. I am not a fraud. I am figuring it out as I go, and that is exactly how every creative in history has done it.’
Say it again if you need to. Write it on a sticky note. Tattoo it on your brain. Because the world doesn’t need you to be perfect or to have all the answers. It just needs you to show up and do the work.
Stop letting your stories stay stuck.
