How Do I Break Out Of The "Comparison Trap"?

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I'm officially getting started as a fantasy fiction writer, and I've just finished my first ever outline. I'm proud of myself for getting this far, but I can't help but compare myself to others, regardless of who they are and how advanced they are skill-wise. I want my writing to be as good as possible, but every time I hear about the latest book or TV show that people are calling "perfect" and "incredible", I feel a little crushed because I'm worried that I'll never reach that level of prestige. I don't like feeling envious. I want to be happy for successful people, and I'm trying really hard to internalize the idea of internal motivation, but I don't know if I can trust my judgement. If I write something that I think is well done, and it gets bad reviews, does that make me delusional, or is everyone else wrong? I want to make something that I'm passionate about and will entertain as many people as possible, but I don't know how to tune out all of the noise and it's driving me insane.

I feel your struggle - you're not alone! My advice would be to first and foremost write something that YOU like and are passionate about. Don't worry about success or recognition. If it comes, it comes. If you are an artist, you are true to your inner source and inspiration. You can't be someone else. You can only be you. Someone said "Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today." Work on your art. Follow your passion. Find inspiration. Improve. And enjoy the process.

Here's an idea: How can you turn this problem, your struggle, into a compelling story?

You could read Stephen King's "On Writing" for more inspiration.

Do you really want to write a story or do you mainly want prestige? If prestige is what you want, your writing endeavor is likely to fail because writing isn't really your focus. Figure out what you want if you are not sure.


Internal motivation doesn't work by being "internalized." It's not just an idea to be understood; it's a trait you must have to complete something. Either you have the trait or you don't. If you don't, you will likely fail. Try to find what actually motivates you if writing isn't what motivates you.

Always bear in mind that as a beginner, it's unfair to compare your work to that of writers at the height of their careers! They were beginners once too, and writing seems to be an art form learned through much trial and error, rather than from being taught "how to do it" and getting it right first time. It's true that many "first" novels are scarily good. Authors nowadays are more honest than they used to be about the real reason for that: they wrote a clumsy unpublished novel or four before making their first sale....