Into the woods: Beginning a hero's journey by shedding the inner imposter
Overcoming my imposter syndrome by finally starting my Substack
In this roundup…
🤔 Impostor syndrome: more common among creatives, is it a friend or foe?
🗺️ Inside The Lolo House, a café/coworking spot/event space in Dubai’s Al Quoz
✈️ Sci-fi inspiration at the Zaha Hadid-designed Heydar Aliyev Centre, Azerbaijan
🙂 Mateo Askaripour: New York Times best-selling author and confidence-inspirer
✍️ Changing the font could be your secret weapon when digital proofreading
🧠 Real-life Smell-o-Vision, an “Autism Certified Airline”, and the Emirates LitFest!
Keep reading (or scroll to each section) to learn more!
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” - Stephen King
I wanted to start a Substack a long time ago. But each time I was about to take the leap, a mean little voice in my head pulled me back. It whispered things like: “You’re not a published author yet. If you don’t even have a book out there, why would anyone want to hear about your writing journey?” “You’ve spent most of your career writing for lifestyle magazines - you’re not a ‘serious’ journalist, and nobody will take you seriously.” “You write about other people who do amazing things. Nobody cares what you think.” “There are so many more talented people out there.” “Why would anyone want to take writing advice from you?” “You’re just not good enough yet. Work more, prove yourself more - you have to earn the right first.”
These disparaging thoughts burrowed their way into my brain despite the fact that I have won a few prestigious accolades for my upcoming fiction work, outside of my nearly 20 years of experience as a professional writer and editor who has held multiple high-ranking positions with fancy titles for world-renowned brands. Yet even adding that to this post made me feel uncomfortable - like I’m humble-bragging. Or straight-up bragging. How dare I talk about myself in such high esteem? Ick.
It’s not because I’m an insecure person - we all have some doubts and fears, but by most definitions, I’m actually quite a secure person. It’s not that I lack confidence either - it’s more that the confidence I do have can sometimes (often) be overshadowed by that mean little voice in my head, if I don’t actively and continually work to shut it up. When it nags me, I push myself to work harder. I strive to become better. And each time I reach a new goal, it barely lets me enjoy my success for a moment before it tells me I need to move the goal posts further. It’s not that I’m crazy (well, no more than the average person at least - just ask my therapist!) - it’s simply that, like so many other people in the world, I have some level of imposter syndrome.
In one of the most popular story structures of all time - The Hero’s Journey - the protagonist answers a call to adventure, then must overcome a series of trials and tribulations before returning home transformed. As I map out my dream of having a career as an author - as well as my ever-evolving growth through life - I know my own hero’s journey can’t begin until I take that first step.
So here I am. This newsletter is an exploration of my personal development and my journey as a writer, through the lens of different elements of storytelling. Welcome to my new adventure.
🤔 The Perspective: Thoughts that make me go “hmm”
At least 70% of people across the world have experienced imposter syndrome. Described as a persistent feeling of inadequacy - despite plenty of evidence that proves otherwise - imposter syndrome is a psychological condition that is especially common among creatives. Even some truly accomplished, highly-lauded people suffer from it.
It’s undoubtedly an affliction. Also known as impostorism, it can damage your sense of self-worth and self-esteem, and hinder your ability to reach for better opportunities or relationships. It can hold you back from even trying to achieve your dreams. It can make you feel small, like you’re not good enough to even apply for the job you want, or ask out the person you like. If you do get the dream gig (or date), it can make you doubt whether or not you really deserve it, accompanied by a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. It can make you continually discount your very real successes, hurting your confidence and stopping you from reaching your full potential.
Yet some research suggests imposter syndrome can also help drive people towards more success. That that feeling of inadequacy can push you beyond your comfort zone, as your insecurity morphs into ambition, and your self-doubt transforms into a higher level of self-awareness enabling more growth. Essentially, it’s the opposite of the Dunning-Kruger effect: where people will give themselves a pat on the back for the smallest things, then immediately put their feet up with an inflated sense of self-perception.
Just like there is a good and a bad side to stress, and technology can be used for good or evil, imposter syndrome can be a curse or a boon - and like many things in life, self-awareness, reflection, and handling yourself with grace seems to be the key.
In her book The Imposter Cure, author and clinical psychologist Jessamy Hibbard writes, “Often, the real problem is an underlying fear of not being good enough.” And with that, she explains that if you’re trying to overcome imposter syndrome, “how you define success is key.” Hibbard will be speaking at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature this year, about another common mind trap that has a fine line between helpful and harmful: overthinking. In her session, she’ll outline her five-step process for breaking the habit.
I’ve never been a fan of the idea of “faking it til you make it” - integrity is something I highly value - but I have realised that one way to beat my imposter syndrome is by faking being comfortable in the spaces where I have already “made it”. There is a big difference between going into a situation with the intentional dishonesty of knowing you aren’t what you say you are, versus learning to “face it until you ace it”, “be it until you see it”, or “believe it until you feel it”.
Perhaps if we can dig up enough courage to step into the spaces that still intimidate us, even after we’ve worked so hard to earn our place there, then maybe, after too many years of being frenemies with that little voice in our heads, we can learn to be friends instead.
🗺️ The Scene
I enjoy writing from different cafés, hotels, libraries, and workspaces around the world - and rating them for their “writer-friendliness”. The Lolo House is a café/coworking spot/event space with a bike shop downstairs, and a cool interiors shop next door. Most of the seating is upstairs - it’s a two-storey venue - and one side is more coworking-focused. The chairs are comfy and a good height, and there are a decent amount of plug outlets. A community-focused space, it hosts events like yoga classes, workshops, and more. It also has a photography and podcasting studio, plus an in-house photographer that you can book.
📍Al Quoz, Dubai, UAE
⏰ Open from 8am to 6pm Mon-Fri, and 9am-5pm on Sat & Sun
🍴☕ They serve light bites, speciality coffees, and smoothies and juices
💰 Free to enter; coffees start from AED19, pastries from AED18, food from AED40
⭐ Writer-friendliness: 4 out of 5 stars
🙂 The Character: Inspiring people with a story worth telling
I recently listened to an episode of the podcast Write-Minded featuring author Mateo Askaripour. In it, he shared how when his debut novel Black Buck became a hit, he sometimes questioned how on earth he - a guy from a sales background - had wound up in these esteemed literary circles.
Despite the fact that he is a confident individual, he had clearly faced some level of imposter syndrome after entering a world in which he was the newbie - and one who had achieved a high level of success quite quickly (including his debut novel becoming a New York Times bestseller, and him being named one of “10 rising stars to make waves” by Entertainment Weekly, as well as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35”). Following the launch of his second novel This Great Hemisphere in 2024, Askaripour will also be at this year’s Emirates LitFest, with a workshop on “Demystifying Speculative Fiction” that I’m excited to take!
Funnily enough, a few lines said by the protagonist of Black Buck, at the start of chapter three, inspired me to just get going too: “An opportunity means change. An opportunity means action. But most of all, an opportunity means the chance of failure. And it’s the potential for failure, more than the failure itself, that stops so many people from beginning anything.”
✈️ The Setting: Destinations to help your mind (and body) wander
The Heydar Aliyev Centre is a building complex in Baku, Azerbaijan designed by the late Zaha Hadid - a renowned Iraqi-British architect once nicknamed the “Queen of Curves”, for her unique deconstructivist designs incorporating fluid geometric shapes. The building houses an auditorium, gallery, and museum, and hosts events such as concerts, plays, art exhibitions, and forums.
As a fan of Hadid’s work, this was on my must-see list the first time I visited the “Land of Fire” back in 2017. The smooth white structure doesn’t have any sharp angles, and while it’s only open for 6-7 hours for six days of the week, you can still enjoy it from the outside anytime you like. There’s a manicured park around it (that contains an “I Love Baku” sculpture), and there’s an undeniably sci-fi vibe when you walk up the sloping green paths to the wave-like landmark at the top.
When I visited, I was writing the first draft of my debut novel, deep in the world-building phase. This place had a huge impact on the vision I had for the eerily clean, calm capital city in my story. I went there at night then returned early in the morning, when there were no other tourists around. Alone, with bright sunlight reflecting off the flowing pale walls, and the wind whistling to me as it whipped through my hair, the place took on a transcendental quality that transported me to another world: the metropolis I named Empyrion…
✍️ The Process: Insights on the craft of writing and editing
If you’re ever feeling stuck while editing a large piece of writing in digital form - the kind where no matter how long or carefully you stare at the screen, the words seem to all blur together somehow - try changing the font. Back when I started my career in magazines, I would always find more errors in the print proofs that my eyes simply couldn’t catch earlier. In the digital age, the paper-saving equivalent is to just change the font. It’ll make your brain see it all as new information, like “fresh eyes”.
This trick can also help overcome writers block. Just like how changing the scenery around me (whether I’m on holiday or finding a new spot to write from) can help give me a new perspective when my usual routine feels stale, a different font can help me process what’s already in my story in a new way, and inspire fresh ideas.
🧠 The Idea-Sparkers, Thought-Stirrers, and Conversation-Starters
Smell-o-Vision is almost real. Ever wondered what a post-apocalyptic world (and zombies) might smell like? You may soon have your chance! Sony is adding olfactive technology to a new gaming system that will allow PlayStation players to smell the setting of games such as The Last of Us.
Emirates is on a mission to become the world’s first “Autism Certified Airline”. Last year, the airline’s Dubai-based check-in facilities were awarded certification for its efforts to make them more inclusive and accessible to neurodiverse customers. Now, it’s trying to do the same for its flight experience by training staff on the subject and offering products centered around sensory awareness.
Calling all bookworms: The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is taking place at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City from January 29 to February 3 this year. The international literary festival is globally respected, and the biggest celebration of the written and spoken word in the Arab world.
Thanks for reading (and making it this far)!
Until next time,
Yi-Hwa
Congrats on your first post 🎉🎉🎉🎉