“What could be more encouraging to the struggling writer than to realize his/her work is unquestionably better than that of someone who actually got paid for his/her stuff?”
Stephen King On Writing (146)
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Leaving LanguishLand 
Does he also say how on earth you’re supposed to “realize” such a thing? I’m confused…
I don’t exactly remember the context of this quote, but I’m thinking he was writing about those moments when people tell you that you shouldn’t read “bad books” and about that feeling you get sometimes when you’re like, “This is rubbish! How did this author get published when all he writes is rubbish?” I think his point was that you can learn from “bad books” just as well as you can from good ones, and that the bad ones might actually be better for your confidence.
Don’t know if that explains it at all.
If this is so, then I totally see what you mean, and I agree wholeheartedly!
I think it’s the “unquestionably better” which left me a little doubtful. I don’t think I could ever call my work “unquestionably better” than that of anyone else, let alone that of someone who was at least able to carry their project through (as being published testifies). But I do sometimes have thoughts during reading that sound like, “Hey, I’m sure I can do that, too!” or “My writing cannot be worse than this.” LOL
Ain’t that the truth. (Wow, ain’t is an actual word according to spell-check)
There have been a few instances where I’ve read published books that weren’t worth the paper they were printed on; and it make me feel better about myself to read books with blatant grammar and punctuation mistakes. Perhaps I can successfully publish my work after all.