“Comparison if the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt
I do it, you do it, we all do it. It’s the Keeping Up With The Joneses mentality.
It’s not at all a bad habit to have. There are many beneficial uses, which all boil down to self-improvement. We look at others’ daily word counts, because we want to increase our daily word count. We look at others’ writing techniques, because we want to improve our writing techniques. We want to see what writing programs others are using, because we want to organize and write more efficiently.
The trick to that improvement is learning to look at ourselves objectively, and that’s a lesson that takes awhile. We have a tendency to be too hard on ourselves, which does us no good in the short and long term.
Keep in mind that writing is fun. It should always be a fun experience. Some days may have less fun than others, but we should be enjoying ourselves anyways.
Remember that we don’t need inspiration. I get in those moods where a scene or an entire chapter rolls out of my brain. It doesn’t require any hard work, and I wish every day was as easy. The truth is the vast majority of my writing came from me sitting down and needing a chapter finished. It’s surprising how much awesome stuff will come out.
Enjoy what you create, because it’s yours. What you create this month will belong to you forever.