The Imposter Syndrome
Some of my students are having a lot of trouble and may be suffering from the Imposter Syndrome, or IS. Yes, we get to that point in the film where we suddenly lose faith in the characters, the story, in our own abilities to write.
Welcome to the club.
And what made us think we could ever be writers, anyway?
Let me tell you, there are plenty of executives who will browbeat you on this one, too. One told me and my writing partner at the time that the freelance episode we had done for his syndicated comedy was the best script he’d ever seen for the show. In front of his staff! He gave us another assignment. When we got notes, it started out like this: “Guys, guys, guys. What made you think you were professional writers?” Later, the staff told us it was his mind game. (BTW, he gave us a contract for three more episodes after that! Unheard of.)
So don’t play the mind game on yourselves. Yes, you may be in a hole, but you’ll get out of there. It may take a little while, but writing doesn’t pay by the hour (even when it pays). If you’ve lost your way, go back to the character study, go to the flaw, go to the premise, go to the 7 points and refresh your memory. What’s making me write this? What do I want to say? How is the protagonist going to get herself out of this fix?
And ask me questions until you get the answer (I’ll probably turn around and ask you questions).
You’ll get there, believe me.
PC