Writers struggle to find inspiration and motivation
Multiple writers describe feeling stuck, lacking inspiration, or struggling with the revision process. Some express a sense of emptiness after finishing drafts and question their progress, while others feel overwhelmed by technical writing challenges.
SOURCES (60)
“I'm starting to realize that one of the things adding to my writer's block is my desire to write a bunch of different things at the same time. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to write towards all these ideas without…”
“i'm a visual person so i like to see my progress. i used to use nanowrimo's project feature because i loved how you could set a wordcount goal and date, and it would divide up how many words you'd have to write each day to complete your project. stuff like that really helps me keep on track when working on projects. now i use inkature for similar features, and have looked at stuff like trackbear, pacemaker, and custom spreadsheets in the past. was wondering if you guys have any exper”
“Whether it's sitting down to write (a huge accomplishment!) or reaching the end of your story, what are you celebrating today? I just hit the halfway point in my novel. Crazy excited for how it's coming along! How about you?? submitted by /u/WhatALongShot [link] [comments]”
“So this is my first time writing anything ever and I just finished writing the end of this part of my book. This is my first draft so the charackters dont have names yet. Also, english is my second language so the grammar might not be always right. All advice is welcome I wake up. My head is pounding. I feel a little confused so I just stare at the ceiling. What happened, and why is the ceiling looking weird? Last thing I remember is just trying to sleep while thinking about how great the weeken”
“I've been on and off writing a book. But everytime I start writing again, I become completely obsessed, I can't think about anything else and I just want to sit down, write and don't be bothered by anyone. I can literally write and edit all day long, no matter how tired I am. Then I forget about it for weeks, when I have other work to do. Does it happen to you too? submitted by /u/Complete-Cod-1997 [link] [comments]”
“Hello everyone! ✨ I'm a novice writer as far as the official - manuscript -> draft-draft-draft-draft -> editor-and-publisher process. But I've been writing amateurly for about 14 years. I struggle with organizing my thoughts due to a learning disability. Sometimes I'll sit down and write 50+ pages and then realize I didn't have a coherent track from Point A to Point B, or that there were major plot holes or other oversights. Lately I've been in a bit of a hole with mone”
“If you ever thought you couldn't get the platform or audience then this post is meant for you. Every writer struggles to find its audience and so did I. Now I am here to push myself and create a community big and strong to support each other. If you feel like this could be the right approach. Drop a text and you'll be added to the community. Thanks 🤍 submitted by /u/inkedbyniyati [link] [comments]”
“I recently rediscovered my passion for writing. I used to write on Wattpad but I don't really wanna do that anymore. which programs do you guys use? just Google docs or any fancy program?:) submitted by /u/Ok_Slice7016 [link] [comments]”
“Hi everyone! So I recently started writing a new project and I really love the idea and the characters, butI have been struggling with starting the book especially starting the prologue because I feel like it's not turning out how I want it to and that has been really demotivating. I was thinking why not write the prologue in a form of a character's journal entry because that honestly just seems like a fun way to write a prologue. What do y'all think of that? submitted by”
“Hi pipol, this my first post in a writer's subreddit. I've never really considered myself quite the writer. Although I used to enjoy writing story books back in Primary and secondary school (Okay... pretend to write). Back then, no one in my schools ever wrote (except for one or two friend whom I might have infected the disease of this, but mainly because of the illustration part) So the best original books were mine. One problem though... I'd never write more than 10 pages, sometime”
“How do you do, fellow writers? I've come to ramble on my first draft, so I hope you'll forgive my not waiting for reply! I started writing back in grade school - I'd found a notebook I received during a moving trip between kindergarten and first grade, and it had a little story about a wolf who saw a UFO and got his dragon buddy to help him fight off the invading human. I remembered dozens of little writing essays I'd adored, basically any time a teacher asked me to do any creati”
“So..I’m a young…uh..writer yeah, and I started getting into writing like 2-3months ago, and I have a few stories I’ve written, short stories, episodic stories etc, and currently…I’m focusing on one story, that one story…yea, I think it has potential for release. And I’m really really lost rn, I’ve made a one page synopsis, I’ve also done various other bs the damn yt video told me to do, and that’s all I could do, idk what to do now.. like, I’ve made one season, which the story should have like,”
“I tend to be really hard on myself when I miss out on a day (or more) of writing. I know it’s probably beneficial to take a break from time to time as our creative juices can run out, but I still feel guilty when I break my streak. I have a full time job and I’m currently working on my first book so I have no idea why I’m creating an internal deadline for myself. submitted by /u/Nerdboners666 [link] [comments]”
“As a writer sometimes I love my stories so much (not in a cocky way) that I start to feel sad that I'll never get to experience them as the reader. As the writer, I know every plot twist and every technique and I know everything there is to know about the story and it's characters. Reading a story you wrote will never be the same as reading someone else's story. I'll never get to experience the surprise of my plot twists because I'm the one who wrote them, I'll never get”
“My docs is filled with ideas that I feel just shouldn't be just "an idea" but should become a beautiful finished work. But for the sake of life, I just can’t seem to start writing. Whenever the urge to write them down swells in my chest, things always pulls me back. I'm scared that I can't put the words in the right place, afraid that my English, which is not my first language, won't make the words sound natural like other authors. I think what affected it the most is m”
“I'm writing my first draft. I'm working on it now and was wondering if there's any other advice or tips about working on a first draft. So far, I feel good working on it, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. submitted by /u/warl200 [link] [comments]”
“Finished my first major manuscript and am in the editing phase. 235k (don't ask, I have a lot of cutting to do) Decided to take a break and pick up a book - started reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods because my book has American Gods in it. Page 2, he has a god named Low Key who's code for Loki. That's one of my major characters. Exact same joke, except my Lowkey has no space in his name. What the actual fuck, Neil, that is so rude to lift my idea 28 years ago. Please tell me mo”
“I used to write so beautifully, my stories were always so descriptive, you felt like you were inside my character's world. I was able to imagine a whole movie in my head. My teachers praised my short stories and my poems, my friends wanted to read more. After two years trying to write, I finally wrote some paragraphs. I'm so disappointed in myself, they feel so flat, there's so much less nuance, it's too rough and direct. It feels like the character is telling a story instead of”
“It took me about 4 years to finish a book that has been rattling around in my brain for far too long. I finally finished it last December and I completed final edits literally a week ago. Manuscript was 160k and I managed to whittle it down to 153 without compromising the story, emotional beats etc. Now that I'm finished I would like your opinions about traditional publishing, mainly about querying agents. Any websites or sources where I can find a list of agents or something similar? Genre”
“I have started writing for the past few days. I am good at extending things. If I have a topic, I can write with a good vocabulary and good thoughts, and it makes a deeper meaning. I thought, but I get blank when I start thinking about a new topic. I can write things, but only when I have a topic. I want to ask people over here what they do when they face same problem because I am new here. I have passion: I want to write things, deeper philosophies, and which I like to write. If anybody can sug”
“As a young author who has NEVER actually finished anything in his entire life, I bumped into yet another issue. I changed my mind on something big on the FIRST DRAFT. Currently, my goal is for there to be 20k words. I have 4k words, which is already impressive for me because I repeatedly just drool over my favorite characters instead of actually working on the writing part. My novella is a romance/BL between a vampire and a vampire hunter. Not very original. But at this point nobody's going”
“Not sure if this is the right flair... not even really sure why I'm sharing this... I think I'm just proud of myself. Got laid off in April after 14 years at my company and decided it was time to put pen to paper on a film idea I've had for a while but never had the time work on. After a couple months of structuring and writing and restructuring and more writing, I'm proud to say that at 40 years old I've finished my first first draft. I have no idea if it's good, but it”
“Y’all ever write something, read it, think to yourself “oh yeah this is straight fire” then stop to think “wait is it actually fire or is my head so far up my own ass that I THINK its fire” There’s this story I wrote for a class in college, where one girl was praising my dialogue and telling me she “ATE! IT! UP!” and now I’m second guessing if that praise actually means anything. Y’all ever worry that you’ll put smth out there after multiple drafts, thinking it’s finally complete, the few people”
“I'm writing my first draft, plus I'm new to writing. I'm working on chapter one, and I keep struggling with going back to edit it, even though first drafts are for putting everything down; then draft two is the clean it up. I don't know if anyone has felt this before. If so, any advice to keep going? submitted by /u/warl200 [link] [comments]”
“Hey y’all, first time posting here. I usually just lurk, but I wanted to share with some random people that I took a major step in my writing journey today. About two and a half months ago, I was bored as hell, so I sat down and started writing a novel. It took me two weeks to draft 67,000 words, followed by about a month of editing and making changes. Today, I submitted my first query letter to an agent. It’s a surreal feeling. submitted by /u/Legitimate_Mess_9132 [link] [comm”
“Some authors I know aren't very proud of their first work. I wonder if this is a universal thing.I am working on my first novel right now, so knowing this feels a bit disheartening. Also, you can explain why if you feel like it. It might help me with my work. submitted by /u/Many_Worldliness_447 [link] [comments]”
“I’ve been writing, primarily original fiction and roleplay formats, for over 15 years. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t finished a story in literal years because I’ll either get a new idea I like better or mental health/life kicks in and drafts stay unfinished, blah blah blah. But a few years ago a friend convinced me to try writing fanfiction, which I’ve enjoyed reading for years. She thought I would enjoy it and the fact that I could post on ao3 might motivate me to stick with a story longer”
“Hi. So I just completed my first manuscript ever 2 weeks back. I have carried the dream of writing a novel since childhood without objectives or endpoints- just something I desperately wanted to do. But when I finally got down to writing it, I wrote an entirely new premise than the one I had carried for ten years. So, I went in thinking this would be my warm up novel for the next definitive one, this is an exercise etc. However, writing the final act of this manuscript devastated me in a way I w”
“I’ve been juggling around an idea for a sci-fi novel, and today I finally had the willpower to actually start working on it. I do the usual spreadsheet-creating, word document opening, etc. It dawns on me that I don't actually know what the hell I'm doing and I have no clue what the hell my story is even about besides the very beginning. Regardless, I decided to start writing some anyway. I write for three hours, come up with a few hundred words, and lo and behold it really really sucks.”
“Finished my first draft today and while I’m extremely proud of myself I can’t seem to shake the feeling my writing was getting progressively worse the last coming months. Perhaps it was a combination of forcing myself through the story, writer’s block or a long break I took in between writing sessions but I could feel the words were coming to me naturally, like they did when I first started. This novel took a whole year, and while I still love the story just as much, it became more of a “chore””
“Back in 2020, I started a book. I wanted to get the story our of my head and I wrote 112really poor written pages. 5 years later (2025), I found my spark again and I decided to pick it up. I rewrote everything and changed for the best my draft to 277pages. I'm really happy with the results and I have half my book finished. The things IS...now I have no guideline writing. Of course I searched, developed the plot and did a Time line for the rest. So TECHNICALLY I'm good. The only thing is”
“I’m a very slow writer. This chapter took about three weeks to finish, but I’m overall proud of it. Probably gonna make edits, but I just wanna put it here! It’s long—about 5,600 words and 14 pages submitted by /u/MLIATwist [link] [comments]”
“I've been struggling with writting something I have left behind for MONTHS. The problem is that writting makes me suffer while enjoying, that's why I didnt start. Recommendations for motivation? submitted by /u/PillowFeelings_79 [link] [comments]”
“I. did. it. ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و✧*｡ It took a bit over 7 months of consistent writing during one of the most chaotic times of my life, but 307 pages and 90k words later I finally finished my first ever draft of my first ever written story! To be clear, the draft is absolute dog shit: major plot points changed at the end of the book, the final chapters are rushed to get to this finish line before my momentum dies again/ are very rough, some parts do not connect well, pacing is laughable, prose quality ebbs”
“Okay so fun story: I found an idea I had written more than 10 years ago in an email (the email was from 10 years ago) that I sent to someone and I started working on this on the 31st May 2026. And although I've had this experience before, first drafts are so exciting and messy. I'm writing chapter 1 after finishing the Prologue and my brain is planning things for Ch-23 and I'm trying to get it back on track. The characters are there - I have a basic plot and I feel like a five year o”
“Genuinely curious. Without a Goal for each day, what is the thing that keeps you writing? submitted by /u/MrCleepus06 [link] [comments]”
“I’ve been working on my novel for exactly one year. The first time I got to just about “act 1” before pausing and hating it all. Then, a few months later, I restarted it. I like the way it was going, my writing quality and ability had grown so much (I’m very new to the craft). I liked my new manuscript, until I hated it. My writing had gotten better, sure, but the plot, the characters, everything, was just off the mark. I made it past “act one”, and nothing felt good . The world I built was quit”
“I'm about 5 or so chapters away from finishing my first draft and while some parts genuinely shock me with the creativity. Some just feel really flat. My plan was to take a step back for a few weeks. Read some books in my TBR and take notes. I guess I'm not sure how to do this effectively. Does anyone study others works? Just annotate? Or is this something you would pay an editor or beta readers for? My only concern is what if I get a bad editor or lazy beta readers. When do you consider”
“I don't know why but recently I have struggled so much to finish my last draft of my screenplay. A few months ago I was able to write everyday and constantly, but now I feel so distracted and slow to a point that I can't get 1/2 page done ADHD has been always a struggle, but specially now that things get more promising and serious It's unbearable to a point that I feel like a hack The ideas are not only in my head but already written in paper in a summary. I know where the story goes”
“I had an idea for a book maybe a month ago. Spent the last month world building, and planning a plot. However, as the title says, I haven’t written anything creatively in about 15 years. I have also probably read fewer than 20 books in those years. I knew it would take a lot of practice to get back into writing, my plan has been to write lots of short stories about the world the story is set in. I figure it’ll help my writing, and it’ll help me to better learn the world. I downloaded the trial o”
“I really want to get into writing but I’ve never had any bright ideas about what to write, so I’m wondering what you guys do to get inspiration. submitted by /u/Minecraft_pro_51 [link] [comments]”
“I've been writing my Big Thing for about 10 years now. I'm not a professional writer of course, sometimes I dont touch the text for months. It's set in a parallel world, no magic, sci-fi but of a biological; rather than of technological kind. The action is spread over 3-4 years, but there are some flashbacks that go back 20 years and there is a lot of information about the world I want to get there. Now I have about 50.000 words but no fragment longer than 20 pages. Sometimes I can w”
“I tried writing this once before but I thought that was terrible so I deleted the whole thing. I still think it is terrible in fact I've been putting off writing this for so long because despite the whole plot for everything being done in my head I just lack the confidence to actually put it on the paper . but today I just said fuck it and wrote this in a few hours. I still know it probably won't be good which is why I'm probably not going to show it to anyone once it is done but who”
“I'm in the very early stages of writing a book. Right now I'm mostly focused on building the characters and figuring out the foundation of the story. I'm stuck between two versions of one major character. The interesting part is that, regardless of whether I choose Version 1 or Version 2, the story would stay almost exactly the same. This decision mostly changes the character's background and the way the world around them is built rather than the plot itself. Version 1 is the ori”
“So I've been writing this piece of fiction for a good while now (started around march) and it is yet to be finished, being split into 5 parts of which 3 and ½ have been completed. I started writing this story as a joke, but I ended up getting super into it and developing it a lot, and it is the work of writing that I'm most proud of. For the first 3 parts, my motivation was soaring and I wrote thousands of words with ease, but now I find myself in a state of not writing at all or writing”
“I’ve written on and off for years, entertaining the possibility that I might have real talent. I started winnowing and refining my manuscript in earnest a few months ago after years of adding to it. I chose the best pieces, I was ruthless in my cutting, I polished everything to a brilliant shine. And the product was good. Not great. By great, I mean electrifying, original, capable of changing the way people read or write, even a little. I know that writing can serve so many purposes and that gre”
“It's academic, but not for school or an assignment. Al has kind of fried my brain lately lol, so l'm completely overthinking it and could use a hand getting started. ofc l am willing to pay you for your time but looking for someone with credentials. The writing will be related to substance use and indegenous population. submitted by /u/Gullible-Version5118 [link] [comments]”
“I am not here to celebrate my publication of first book or finishing my first book, all that is much far. I am here to celebrate something much smaller, probably nothing that big but I feel really happy and want to share it. I finished chapter 12 of my novel today, started writing my novel in beginning of May this year. I'm genuinely so happy. I have been working on this chapter for a while. So much procrastination, so many line fixes, so much hopelessness. So much of tiredness and wanting t”
“Hello! I've been writing a book for what is like 7 years now. Every time I read it again, I try to make it better with my new learned skills or ideas. To me, sharing it is basically accepting that it is over and I can't "play" with my world and characters anymore. I don't know yet if I want to publish it, but for those who did it, how did it go? How did you find the courage to "just do it" Let me know what you think. Thanks. So far I've only shared a draft wit”
“For me, it isn't starting. It's staying motivated when the excitement wears off and you still have thousands of words left to write. I'm curious what it's been like for everyone else. Is it plotting, editing, self-doubt, finding time, or something completely different? What's been your biggest challenge, and how did you overcome it? submitted by /u/Marcos_jane [link] [comments]”
“First, sorry my english. This is my first post here, just venting. I don't even know if I can call myself a writer yet, since I haven't even finished my first draft. I've always been more of an arts person, even though I never struggled with the sciences — I was actually good at math, physics, chemistry, all of it. That's how I ended up in architecture. As a teenager I had a rock band with some friends, even played a few gigs. Me and my guitar were inseparable. I wrote songs and”
“After 7 years of writing, I am almost done with the sixth book in my dark fantasy series. Nothing much to discuss, just felt like posting to fuel that writing motivation. submitted by /u/Glaceo95 [link] [comments]”
“Hey guys. Word count, useful tool or just let the book progress naturally? When I'm typing away for a few hours I do get a great deal of satisfaction/joy when I knock out say 2000 words in a sesh. However other days im lucky if I manage 200. I mean if your aiming for a 80K novel it would in theory be down on paper in two and a half months. Does anybody try and stick to a daily/weekly word count? Second point, does anybody turn off their spell checker when typing and do it at the end of a ses”
“Hello all! Forgive me if this is a question that can't really be answered - I think I'm hitting a writing burnout. I'm looking for advice on writing an academic monologue with substance, something that isn't just going to sound like a whole load of rambling. For context, my character is being dragged to an Oxford professor's lecture by his nerdy daughter who's really into classics and philosophy. He's not a very academic character himself, but he's bonding with hi”
“75k words later! And I’m done!! Of course , I’m done with the first draft, but still! I’m done! wahoooo! I started writing as a kid as a form of escapism, but now that I’m older and life is better, it transformed into a simple hobby. For a long (looong) time, I was confident I couldn’t write a real story, I could just write about characters doing nothing. Anyways, I still write about characters but at least now they do something! I know trad publishing could be a long shot, but I would really lo”
“I have been trying to get a story idea out for three years. I start writing and stop. Ive changed so many details but the idea. I really want to write it but im just not sure. Recently i have poured weeks out into an outline but im finding it has some plot holes. Major ones…idk if should continue and try and get what i can out of it or if i should restart again. Any advice? submitted by /u/WinterMarvelQuinn [link] [comments]”
“What do you do to get out of your head and need to refresh when you’re writing? In the maddening last editing stretch at the moment and am finding that my usual long walks with the dog aren’t helping so went to the shop and started making stuff. submitted by /u/CinchAndGiggles [link] [comments]”