The AAA.

The Arrogant Amateur Attitude.

Unfortunately, many people who are starting out as authors, those who want to write something, those who are writing something, have written something and want to publish it, or have published something and now claim to be an expert, tend to take on a fake air of authority.

They’ve read every book, watched every video and course, listened to every “expert” in the field, and then they start dictating how other authors need to be, should be, how we should act, and what we must do.

How… All authors suffer from imposter syndrome.

How… Every writer suffers from writers’ block.

How… Every author needs/should/must write every day to prove they’re a writer.

Seriously. It’s eye roll inducing.

And so and so forth.

And I’ve come to hate the words “every” and “all”.

Or, they’ll steamroll over the veteran pros of a writers’ group because their opinion is more important. What they saw on a video, or in a course, or read in a book, is more important.

It’s not.

I call this the fake-arse air of authority, and it’s going to get you verbally slapped down.

It’s kind of like Cartman on Southpark when he says, “respect my authoritah!”

Don’t ever pretend that you know more than those who came before you, have done this longer, and know what the hell they’re talking about, because they do and you don’t.

This attitude is, sadly, growing amongst newbies and those in the first couple of years of this writing journey, and it’s annoying as hell. It’s eye roll inducing; it’s wanting to punch you in the face inducing.

It’s also incredibly narcissistic on your part and I’ve dealt with it a lot. In person in our writers’ group, and online in Facebook groups. I was even thrown out of an FB group because I told someone to stop dictating to the rest of us. But then, the admin of the group was a misogynist old male who allowed men to get away with whatever they wanted to say but didn’t do the same for the ladies.

*Rolls eyes

Don’t do it.

Don’t pretend to be something you’re not, or know something you don’t, just because you read, watched, and heard everything. Everything is not gospel. The rules of this writing game are not strict and are fluid with each writer. You don’t get to dictate what others do, or how we write, or when we write.

All you’ll do is turn people off and end up with no help at all.