Listen:
The guys sit down and discuss the feeling that you have no business doing your creative work
Liner notes:
- A big discussion of what it is and why its bad.
Action to take:
- Have and find heroes. Sometimes you can trace over them or write with them to help you cut through the mystery of your hero.
- Make sure your surgeon doesn’t have impostor syndrome.
- Hang out with supportive friends (or listen to this podcast!) – name the demon and take its power.
War with Art 
This one is probably my favorite because it hits close to home. It’s also a topic I don’t hear discussed too often. When Eric said he feels embarrassed to call himself an artist… Sir, you are crazy and I’m calling the police because your work is radical. That being said, I understand your ethos there.
I get this almost guilty-like feeling whenever I tell people I do art. I feel that way because I see other people who put out constant gold for work. People ask if I can do work for them and I’ve turned so many down saying they’ll get better results for a better price off anybody else. I don’t feel bad for saying no because I’m completely convinced whatever I give them won’t be optimal to any degree. Self doubt is always there, like nearly everybody else.
Now physical art aside. Something I’ve been wanting to do for a few years now is get into voice acting. I have this passion for it unlike other things I’ve taken an interest with. I don’t like to compliment myself but when it comes to making voices, mimicking accents, impersonating, I think I do alright. Enough to provide some substance for projects. But here’s where the problem comes in. To contradict myself whenever I’m about to record something I do a complete turn around. As if I can do it no problems as long as there’s no mic in front of my face.
I suppose it’s the commitment side of it is what scares me. I think to myself “I have no right even stepping foot into this land that is voice acting”. I was a nervous friggin’ wreck in the booth when I did my lines for Warframe because of that. Boy did I feel like an asshole after wards. The self doubt creeping up my spine and worming its way into my brain “I botched it, I botched it and it sucks. Why are you like this? What are you doing?”. It’s this manic struggle I’m perpetually trapped in.
There’s a few actors who constantly inspire me. My heroes. Jason Douglas is one of them. He provided the voice for who is my favourite video game psycho to date; Krieg from Borderlands 2. I love the character so much I even cosplay as him (minus the muscle). His delivery on every line is just so good I feel compelled to give it my own take. And it was that which started the enjoyment I got from doing voices. I’ll be sitting around, or diving, and I just start with a favorite line, then do another, anther one, one more. Then switch to a totally different character from another game just to make sure I have some range, and that I’m not so monotone.
Maybe it helps me shove that imposter feeling back into the mud where it crawled out from. I want to voice act, I really do and despite what I said about my lines for Warframe it’s also reinforces my drive. Odd huh?
Anyway, that felt good getting it out there actually. Thanks for another great episode, amigos. I’m all caught up and ready for more.
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Hey,
It’s such a sinister force that stops us from pursuing our goals. I think its bigger and stronger than external forces. Like your friends and family can tell you that you’re good at something or that you can pursue it… but that voice. That asshole voice in the back of your head… that’s the one we choose to listen to.
I say keep going. Keep pushing if you want to voice act.
Take that feeling of reinforcement and give it water. Let that son of bitch grow.
Sheldon
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One thing that helps me take the sting out of the ol’ impostor syndrome is to tell myself “it’s okay to do bad art sometimes”. It’s okay to fail, and not be as good as you want to be, or think people expect you to be. What’s the worst that happens? They don’t commission you? They don’t buy your art? Who gives a shit though???
(*caveat: this does not apply to situations where you REALLY want someone to hire you for a thing and you are 100% relying on them thinking you’re the fuckin’ BOMB I can’t help you guys there, sorry. Just stop wanting things!)
Most people, I’ve learned, are much more concerned with their own self-image than they care about yours. They aren’t paying THAT much attention, and if they notice? They usually don’t care. This is also true of public speaking (I took a college course on this)– most people won’t notice your mistakes, and if they do? They REALLY don’t care because everybody’s been there and they don’t envy the position you’re in. If you goof, you goof, and time passes on.
But let’s seriously highlight the importance of finding/identifying your ‘voice’ and how that plays into impostor syndrome. I’m sure most people feel the same way– seeing someone’s work that is so good and being like ‘I want to be able to do stuff like that!’ but you haven’t put in the work yet. Don’t let it distract you! Always stretch your wings and try new stuff, and if you REALLY want a skill, you can absolutely go achieve it with work, but you can also let people have their thing while you work on yours. Explore, but come home. How do you feel like a fraud when there’s nobody you can compare yourself to because only YOU do what you do.
And at the end of the day, if you’re like me and have been kind of an outsider/ ‘other’ a lot of your life, you have a pretty strong ‘fuck it’ reflex where you convince yourself, for however long you need, that you don’t care what other people think of you. Fuck it. Do the thing. If you fail, fuck all those guys anyway! etc etc.
Thanks for sharing again, guys ❤
-shad
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