Note: This is a reminder to the reader that “Bumbling, Stumbling” is the bucket of blog posts centered around authoring, self-publishing, and marketing. 

*Small rant incoming*

There was a certain trend that really gained momentum in the 1990s and has accelerated in the decades since. I think it’s now more of a cultural norm in the United States, and that’s even more unfortunate in my view.

What is it? The celebration of “nerd culture.” 

Were this a polite conversation (I hope it is), you might then say, “Why is that?”

Of course, it’s not because I have anything against nerds. That would be silly. The reason is: In the era of my childhood, as our society began to both codify and deeply emphasize subcultural groups (to the point where, today, every noun and most adjectives have a club), “nerds” gained exclusive rights to “nerd things” and even to intelligence itself.

This is the bane of a high-functioning society.

If nerds own nerd things, then everyone else (athletes, skaters, gearheads, whatever) can only borrow them. And, for some mystifying reason, they (everyone else) have to feign shame when doing so.

Further, if everyone else can only borrow nerd things, there’s an implicit suggestion and expectation that when it comes to the use of these nerd things, everyone else is “lesser than” (not as smart, not as rational, not as cranially evolved…).

What probably originated as a noble cause to engender a sense of belonging in people quickly devolved into many subcultural groups expecting far less of themselves, including nerds. Example: Great athletes don’t have to be great thinkers. In fact, they probably won’t be. Even shouldn’t be. And great thinkers probably won’t be the next superstar baller. In other words, pick a lane, stay in it, and don’t get your hopes too high.

Big load of BS. Chicken, even.

*Small rant leaving*

What does this have to do with writing? In the same era the above trend developed, so did two others: (1) A focus on self-psychoanalysis coupled with the prolific use of psychology terms; and (2) The improved accessibility of content creation and publishing.

Pertinent to Item 1 above, a psychology term that has come into common use during my lifetime is “impostor syndrome.” For the sake of discussion, I am going to use it synonymously with “self-doubt.” 

We all have feelings of self-doubt. We all feel like impostors or charlatans sometimes. I did as an athlete, student, gamer, raid leader, and project/program/portfolio manager. I still do in my roles now. However, I feel like the publishing industry—and maybe especially the self-publishing branch of it—puts an enormous multiplier on them. Based on anecdotal evidence, I’m not alone in this. 

There are a lot of reasons why. In part, I believe the subcultural emphasis I ranted about at the top of the page represents one of the main ones. The entire industry is tailored to subsubsubsubsub-genres where, at the bottom layers of this genre stratification, published works are basically just waving a subcultural emblem and pandering to obscure tastes (honestly, in some cases, fetishes). 

Most indie authors end up shoveling page count into one of these tiny boxes to sell their product. It can be lucrative—and maybe a lot of these writers love it—but it feels like this model will absolutely be prohibitive of great works with potentially broad cultural impact being discovered… unless they are promoted by someone with clout. [Note: I’m not arrogant enough to be suggesting it’s prohibiting me from doing this. Not my point.]

No doubt, these same problems manifest in different ways in the traditional publishing space (which I haven’t bothered dabbling in), but newcomers to the industry could easily fall into the trap of thinking self-publishing is immune. Being able to “publish what you want” and “have full creative control” is great, but this is still a business.

And, since this post is already long, I won’t even touch on the strange science of selecting keywords or the echo chamber that is social media.

In the end, the upthrust here is that following the yellow brick road of writing, editing, and formatting a novel quickly becomes a sweaty meandering trek through the forest of publishing and marketing that is guided by a cookie crumb trail of sometimes abnormal norms. So, you had better bring a map or plan a careful course and be prepared for detours. Thankfully, there are some really helpful resources on YouTube for newcomers to the self-publishing space. 

All of these challenges on their own would make anyone feel like an impostor, but once you’re published there’s still the eternal problem for writers: Finding an audience. 

Unless, and even if, you pass through the above forest like a gentle breeze… Finding an audience can be a little scary, uncomfortable, and painful. Simply, it’s hard to do. This business is tough in ways, and it can fan the fires of self-doubt and impostor-ness.

That said, if you are going to be an impostor, I argue you should be a stoic impostor.

Stoics (Marcus Aurelius being the most famous) essentially believe in living life through reason (logic), discerning what the right thing is (wisdom), doing the right thing (courage), etc. This is all underpinned by a simple tenant of “controlling what one is able to control.” 

I found Stoicism because of SAP. I should put that on a T-shirt. IYKYK (if you know you know)

Anyway, learning the lesson of controlling what you can control is essential in publishing. 

Put out a good product consistently—know what good means to you and your audience. 

Don’t react emotionally to criticism whether positive or negative—discern what’s valuable, take that away, and leave the rest. 

Keep your vision—if you believe strongly in it, don’t let anyone dissuade you from realizing it. 

Be a stoic impostor.

Final thoughts.

No one does anything perfectly, not even being a stoic impostor. Sometimes, you’ll be an impostor stoic. You won’t always be able to be rational, you might feel like quitting, you might take harsh and invalid criticism (or no feedback at all) to heart despite knowing you should not…

In that moment, take a step back and gain some perspective. What is really happening? What are the true reasons behind the things that are happening? What are the motivations of the different actors? What truly impacts you versus only feeling like it does?

Remember: Slow is fast.

It’s easy to fall back on statements like “fake it ‘til you make it,” but a healthier view would be: Very few people (by percentage) take this road or travel this far on it. Also, the road conditions and the weather are always changing, so the skills and equipment you will need to travel it are relatively uncommon, timebound, and will have to be learned hands-on in context.

Be a stoic impostor and control what you can. Don’t worry about anyone noticing if your disguise slips, because they won’t notice if you keep your cool. Equip yourself for the road ahead and expect your plans to break down. Remember where you’re going. And by the end of our journey, the road having been traveled together in Chaucer-like fashion, we will all be stoic storytellers instead. 

Image sourced from a design by the T-Shirt Factory