Writer Lindsay Ellis recently tweeted about imposter syndrome (where you think you aren’t up to the task, have everyone fooled, and are destined to be revealed as a horrible fraud). Unfortunately, she gets it wrong. She writes:

“Because the thought patterns that lead to imposter syndrome need not always be a net negative – on some level, it is a form of perfectionism, but perfectionism can be harnessed as energy to create better, more thoughtful work. Perfectionism in moderation need not be destructive.”

You won’t be surprised to hear that I emphatically disagree with that last sentence. My responses below.

As someone who specializes in helping writers and others overcome #perfectionism and procrastination, I have to respectfully disagree. I believe perfectionism is always harmful because it disempowers you…. https://t.co/I4mzUPwx4t

— Hillary Rettig (@hillaryrettig) March 1, 2019

Perfectionism’s main tools are harshness and coercion – including imposter syndrome. They are inhumane and thus immoral and shouldn’t be used, but even leaving that aside, they only work short-term at best….

— Hillary Rettig (@hillaryrettig) March 1, 2019

while leaving us more disempowered and unable to do our work in the future. (Also, we become habituated to the punishment, so eventually, pretty quickly it stops working at all.) Think about it…

— Hillary Rettig (@hillaryrettig) March 1, 2019

If harshness and coercion really worked wouldn’t so many more of us be superachievers by now? Many people have been bashing themselves (and/or been bashed by others) for years and decades with little to show for it except unhappiness…

— Hillary Rettig (@hillaryrettig) March 1, 2019

To sum: perfectionism isn’t the solution, it’s the problem. It’s what’s blocking your natural, joyful creative productivity, AND is considered a prime cause of depression and anxiety esp. among teens & college students. So I shudder to see it promoted as good even in small doses.

— Hillary Rettig (@hillaryrettig) March 1, 2019

I’m not disputing @thelindsayellis point about legitimacy: it’s important, and there are def reasons why people, and esp. creative people and esp. women, struggle with it. But perfectionism isn’t the answer for that or anything else.

— Hillary Rettig (@hillaryrettig) March 1, 2019

I also support people using whatever techniques work for them, and am happy that @thelindsayellis has found her groove. But I do think her advice to be ” perfectionist in moderation” would set many back.

— Hillary Rettig (@hillaryrettig) March 1, 2019

I’ll end with this link about perfectionism (and which links to a page of solutions, and, beyond that, my books). Thanks for reading. https://t.co/znBeeROfMl

— Hillary Rettig (@hillaryrettig) March 1, 2019