Meet Gene Desrochers

We were lucky to catch up with Gene Desrochers recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gene , 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.

I didn’t. I just do things anyway and live with feeling like an imposter much of the time. I do like to talk about the things I enjoy. Getting caught up in something I’m excited about, like writing stories or playing tennis, provides me with the feeling that I love this thing enough that I’ll do it even if I’m not great at it. That desire feeds a desire to develop sharper skill. Not matter how good I get at things, I still feel like I suck, however, the fact that I constantly feel inadequate feeds into me not being satisfied with whatever level I reach. The things I do, I constantly strive to improve because of the feeling of being an imposter that can only be overcome by getting more competent. Even when competent, I feel incompetent, so I just keep trying to learn and be better. In the end, I often wind up being fairly proficient at the things I like doing. A good example regards when I quickly had to find work after my business failed in 1999. I immediately got a job waiting tables because the money was instant (tips) and I needed to pay rent. I loved tennis and played every day, so after six months to one year, I decided I’d make an effort to become a tennis instructor. I had taught before, but when I entered the certification program, my thought was, I’m not good enough to be a tennis pro (I’d always looked up to those guys). When I got there, I was one of the 2-3 best players in the program and my knowledge of the game far exceeded almost everyone else as well. I was shocked. My obsession with tennis and my desire to be a great player had actually made me competent, even though I didn’t believe it. I got the highest certification and wound up running a tennis club for many years. That was a dream that I never really believed I’d achieve. The members treated me with respect and eventually I felt like I belonged in that position, although there were days and weeks when I still struggled with imposter syndrome despite most everyone around me having no doubt in my abilities.

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?

The thing I’m most excited about in my life currently is my author career. I’ve had three books published so far and I’m in the editing stage of my fourth offering. Writing is something I feel the need to do, even though at times it does not make me happy. Struggling to develop a story and more importantly a theme / feeling is what keeps me up at night, but also gives me a modicum of satisfaction when I put the right words together can create something that speaks. It doesn’t happen often. I primarily write about events that take place in the Caribbean, although my latest book takes place in Los Angeles. I enjoy showing characters that are imperfect or even unlikable to the reader, so long as the story takes them someplace and makes them feel something, although I ultimately have no control over that outcome. I should probably say that the story makes me feel something and perhaps some of that feeling gets imparted. The power of story is to transport the reader into another’s imagination, to show others what I see or hear, what I notice that they may or may not. When this sparks a conversation, hopefully somewhat philosophical, then the feeling is compounded and takes me into new realms. This is outside my normal existence. That leads to special places, some answers, and mostly more questions.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Persistence. I didn’t know it at the time, but chugging along is the single most important I did and do. I often want to give up. I often wonder what the point is. I often wonder why I bother. And some days I don’t. Then, the urge rises and I write, or take the bar exam for the third time, with the conviction in my mind that I would have taken it fifty times if necessary, until I was an expert in the exam. The same with writing each novel. Short bursts of productivity are not my forte. I’m a slow and steady wins finishes the race kinda guy.
So, after persistence, I vote for consistency, that is writing every day, or most days, even if it’s only one-hundred words. That’s my goal with a draft, to write at least 100 words per day. It’s a trick. What usually happens is I reach 100, then I keep writing because starting the process is my problem. Once I’m in the void, I can stay there, but generally other things keep me occupied and I don’t even start. Then, if the goal is too large (like one hour of writing), I’ll decide there’s no way I have time for that, so I don’t write at all. The 100 words can often be hammered out in less than 5 minutes, therefore, I never have the “there’s no time” excuse.
The third trait is being willing to let it out. When I get upset, I let the emotion out by doing something physical, then I can go back to the cerebral work of writing or legal matters. Physical activity is also the key to sleep and without enough sleep I get depressed and disinterested.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am looking for other quality writers who have built a newsletter email list to cross-pollinate, by featuring our books in one another’s newsletters, especially other writers who write in the crime, mystery, thriller genres. I look for people who are open, enjoy collaboration, and are willing to experiment with different approaches to marketing our books to the world.
For my legal work, I’m always looking for good attorneys and paralegals who can work on a project basis and take care of certain writing duties or help create a pre-litigation and litigation strategy for a particular case when a bunch of cases come to a head all at once, time comes at a premium and that assistance can help tremendously.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Los Angeles County Bar Association
Miriam Sachs

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