Thanks for this, it's a good time of year for it. I feel like the Venn diagram between "what you write about" and "what you do for work" overlaps more and more as you go up your tier list. I feel this dissonance now as my career (love it and it pays the bills) has nothing to do with what I want to write about. Staying tuned for part 2!
"The second one is imagining that what you’ve just written is a post by one of the other writers that both you and many other people like. “Could <a really good writer you like> possibly written this essay him/herself?” If the answer is yes, maybe it’s actually good."
Thanks for this, it's a good time of year for it. I feel like the Venn diagram between "what you write about" and "what you do for work" overlaps more and more as you go up your tier list. I feel this dissonance now as my career (love it and it pays the bills) has nothing to do with what I want to write about. Staying tuned for part 2!
This is super helpful:
"The second one is imagining that what you’ve just written is a post by one of the other writers that both you and many other people like. “Could <a really good writer you like> possibly written this essay him/herself?” If the answer is yes, maybe it’s actually good."
"Franz Kafka, one of the great 20th century writers, suffered from severe imposter syndrome and burned an estimated 90% of his works."
I did NOT know this.