Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Patrick Morgan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Patrick, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is something that many of us deal with/experience in our lives, and it’s been no different for me as a novelist. The process of planning a book, writing a book, publishing a book, marketing a book… it’s not easy going through any of these steps–though it’s certainly a whole lot of fun. It’s a cliche, but the same way people say every journey begins with a single step, I feel the same way about overcoming imposter syndrome. You keep chipping away at outlining your novel, sooner rather than later, you’ll have a blueprint for it finished. If you’re disciplined about writing, you’ll keep adding words, paragraphs, pages, chapters to your manuscript, and then one day, you’ll be finished. It’s a heckuva lot easier to combat imposter syndrome then when you can look back at what you’ve accomplished from the other side and say “I did this” or “I did that.” This is important, since there will still inevitably be days where you feel like a fraud. In those instances, I try to keep proper perspective and remind myself of these tangible accomplishments.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a novelist who has had the fortune and pleasure of publishing five books to date. My novels — APPARENT HORIZON, REALMS, VIATICUM, HOPE’S LAST REFUGE, and IT WILL END IN DISASTER — are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold online. I’ve been writing ever since I was a little kid, but I published my first full-length novel in 2020 and I haven’t looked back since.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
There are many qualities and skills necessary to become a successful writer, but the three that come first to mind for me are discipline, imagination, and belief.
You need to have the self-discipline to keep at your craft, whether you’re still in the planning stages, the writing stages, the publishing stages, or wherever. This isn’t an easy profession, and it’s certainly one where you’ll need to keep yourself accountable since writing by its nature is a solitary pursuit.
Imagination is key for fiction writers such as myself. Without an active and healthy imagination, I can’t imagine trying to concoct whole new worlds, plots, characters, etc.
Finally, belief is such a crucial ingredient as well. As I said, writing is hard. You need to believe in yourself before you can convince anyone else to believe in you too.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
After working with a small publisher to bring my first four books to press, I went through the process of self-publishing my fifth novel. Though I certainly still had plenty of help along the way (you know who you are — thank you!), I’m proud of the fact I was able to go it alone throughout much of the lead-up to this most recent novel’s publication. I definitely learned a lot and grew along the way — both as a writer and as an indie author/independent creative.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://patrickmorganonline.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickmorganauthor/
