Am I good enough? What right do I have to publish my words? Do I even have the right to write?

These existential questions loom on the shoulders of aspiring authors, feeding the complex monster that is imposter syndrome. 

Such mental phenomenon was first identified in 1978 by psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes who defined it as “a psychological pattern in which high-achieving individuals doubt their accomplishments and experience fraudulence despite objective evidence of their competence” (Al Lawati et. al. 2025 p.1). Further studies have reported that imposter syndrome develops more commonly amongst people in creative industries, thus making writers and aspiring authors highly susceptible subjects (Hutchins 2015).

In his article for Psychology Today, novelist and non-fiction author George Michelin Foy explores why writers, and most specifically fiction writers, fall victims to this phenomenon. For one, he argues that the publishing industry — as a trade guided by market standards, trend, and an increasingly reduced attention span — offers established and aspiring writers few and scarce objective criteria of competence and quality (Michelsen Foy 2024). Furthermore, he adds that “in a culture that chains self-worth to financial success, […], it seems inevitable that most writers are going to question their abilities and consider themselves a fraud when judged by the world at large” (Michelsen Foy 2024). 

Then, how can a writer cross the threshold of their insecurities and combat imposter syndrome? Sometimes a push from ‘the ones who made it’ is all it takes.

On Tuesday 30 September 2025, during his appearance at the Edinburgh Literary Salon, writer and university professor D. V. Bishop gave his green light to a room of awaiting ears—some belonging to his own Creative Writing MA students from Edinburgh Napier University. “You don’t need permission to write. To be an author you only need pen and paper” (Bishop 2025). While his advice might be first perceived as simplistic, the effect it had on the crowd was nothing but. Shoulders slumped and sighs were heaved as Bishop gave them, perhaps without trying to, the permission to write.

D. V. Bishop, photograph by F. Mosse

The Kiwi author is one amongst a crowd of fiction writers to speak up about the self-doubt preventing talented and passionate aspiring storytellers from publishing their manuscripts. In his memoire titled On Writing, Stephen King gave what he called his ‘permission slip’: “you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up”  (King 2000, p. 187).

Stephen King Writing in His Office, photograph by J. Krementz (1995)

If you’ve ever questioned your ability as a writer or your right to being or becoming one, may two successful novelists like D. V. Bishop and Stephen King inspire you to look beyond the fear and insecurities of imposter syndrome and fully tap into the potential of your passion and perseverance.

Bibliography

Al Lawati, A. et. al. 2025. Impostor phenomenon: a narrative review of manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment, Middle East Current Psychiatry, [online] 32(18), Available at: https://mecp.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43045-025-00512-2 [Accessed 5 October 2025].

Bishop, D. V. 2025, The September Student Salon, 30 September 2025, Edinburgh Literary Salon, The Outhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Hutchins, H.M. 2015, Outing the imposter: A study exploring imposter phenomenon among higher education faculty, New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, [online] 27(2), Available athttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nha3.20098 [Accessed 5 October 2025].

King, S. 2000, On Writing, A Memoire of the Craft, Scribner: New York.

Michelsen Foy, G. 13 June 2024, How Writers Are a Perfect Target for Imposter Syndrome, Publishing Today, [online], Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/shut-up-and-listen/202406/how-writers-are-a-perfect-target-for-imposter-syndrome [Accessed on 5 October 2025]. 

Images:

Cover photo: Oradea, A. n.d., [Untitled illustration of a woman peaking through a theatre curtain], [online], Available at: https://tr.pinterest.com/pin/785667097537498426/ [Accessed on 13 October 2025].

Krementz, J. 1995, Stephen King Writing in His Office, in King, S. 2012, Cover photo of On Writing, A Memoire of the Craft, Scribner: New York.

Mosse, F. 2025, D. V. Bishop [online], Available at: https://dvbishop.com/about [Accessed on 13 October 2025].