“Yeah, I need to reassure myself of my qualifications, because right now I am staring at a page, under a fucking deadline, with that dark black combo of writer’s block and the endless echo of ‘you’re a fucking hack’ that every screenwriter gets at 3am, whenever 3am decides to fall that day. I am vulnerable, and scared, and lie through my teeth every time I take a job because every job I’m convinced this’ll be the one I can’t pull off. And when you’re a writer, that NEVER. FUCKING. STOPS. UNTIL. YOU’RE DEAD.”
So sayeth John Rogers.
I usually only get that when starting a project, though perhaps that’s just me. I feel that way until I start writing, and then I’m fine again.
It’s not just writers… I’m an electronics engineer, and I get that feeling at the beginning of every new project, as well as every new job. I also get that feeling in the middle of the project, and any time there’s a change in the requirements (which is usually every month or so.) A friend once told me that it’s called “the imposter syndrome”; you’re absolutely convinced that you really aren’t as good at your job as everyone thinks, and sooner or later they are going to find you out.
But, I tell myself, it’s better than being arrogant.