7.6 For When You Feel Stuck

It is normal to find yourself feeling stuck and unmotivated in the middle of drafting and revising your OER. This chapter offers some strategies for finishing the journey, whether you are in the drafting stage or the revising stage.

During the Drafting Stage

Writing and remixing takes time, and time can be in short supply. It’s also hard work, and in the middle of the work, it’s easy to lose motivation or lose focus. Consider setting yourself up for success using one or more the following:

For motivation

Revisit Your “Why”

Remind yourself why you started this OER project in the first place. Reconnecting with your purpose can reignite motivation. Talk with a colleague or a student who could benefit from the resource or get inspired by how inclusive OER has made a difference. Hearing firsthand how your work could make a difference might provide the push you need to keep going.

Start with the Easiest Section

If you’re feeling stuck, don’t force yourself to begin with the introduction or the most challenging section. Start with the part that feels easiest or most interesting to you. Completing a section—even a small one—creates momentum and makes the next step feel less daunting.

Take a Break

If you’ve been staring at the same screen in the same location for hours, a change of scenery can help break the mental block. Move to a different workspace, work in a coffee shop, or even take a walk while brainstorming ideas. Shifting your environment can refresh your mindset and make it easier to approach your work with new energy. Pushing through frustration doesn’t always lead to productivity. If you’re feeling stuck, step away from your work. Engage in an unrelated activity—exercise, read, or do something creative. Often, the best ideas come when you’re not forcing them. Taking intentional breaks can help you return with a clearer mind and renewed motivation.

Team Up for Accountability

It’s easy to procrastinate when no one is checking in on you. Set working meetings with your team where everyone shows up to write, no chit-chat, just writing. This space and the accountability that it provides can offer external motivation to keep moving forward.

Celebrate Small Wins

Recognizing progress, no matter how small, can keep you motivated. Finished a section? Added an example? Revised a paragraph? Celebrate it! Consider keeping a “progress log” where you note each milestone. Seeing your cumulative progress over time can provide encouragement to keep going.

For time efficiency

Break It Into Micro-Tasks

Feeling overwhelmed by a project can often leads to avoiding the task. Instead of thinking about an entire chapter, chapter, try breaking your work into small, manageable pieces. Start with a single section, an example, or even a sentence—something you can complete in 10-15 minutes. Create a checklist of these micro-tasks and check them off as you complete them. The momentum created from tackling small tasks that move your project forward reinforces a sense of accomplishment.

Set a Timer and Write Without Judgment

Your first draft doesn’t have to be flawless—it just needs to exist. You can always refine and improve it later. Set a timer for 10-20 minutes and commit to writing without worrying about quality. Focus on getting ideas down, knowing you can revise later. Using a method like the Pomodoro Technique (25-minute work sprints followed by short breaks) can also help you stay engaged without feeling overwhelmed.

For Writer’s Block

Use AI as a Thinking Partner

If you’re struggling to get words on the page, try using AI to generate a rough draft, brainstorm ideas, or refine what you’ve already written. Tools like ChatGPT can help outline sections, summarize key points, or suggest alternative phrasing. Think of AI as a collaborator rather than a replacement for your expertise. Even if the AI-generated content isn’t perfect, it can spark new ideas or provide a starting point to refine.

Talk It Out

Sometimes, writing gets blocked because ideas aren’t fully formed in your mind. Try explaining your chapter’s key points out loud to your team. Speaking your thoughts can help clarify what you want to say. You might even use voice-to-text tools to capture ideas quickly, which can later be refined into written content.

During the Revising Stage

The revising stage brings its own challenges. Revision requires you take a step back, which can sometimes feel like a step backwards, often requiring multiple read-throughs and attempts. Besides your own planned revision, you hopefully are getting feedback from others like your team members, your students, the OERFSJ Project team, and maybe peer reviewers. Here are a few suggestions for surviving the pre-publishing push:

Cultivate creative distance

The most valuable tool for a revising author is to take a step back from the text, either literally or figuratively. Sometimes, when you’re stuck, a walk around the block is all it takes to get some distance between you and what you’ve written. The more you can let go of all the work you’ve done so far, the more you’ll be able to see what is actually on the page, what’s missing, and what needs to change.

Prepare for change

It’s natural to resist feedback that asks you to change something that you worked hard to create. It’s much easier to justify why the text is fine the way it is. Ready yourself to be open to the feedback you will receive so you can use your creative energy to move forward rather than rationalize the status quo.

Look at the big picture

You are not just drafting and revising your chapter. It’s part of an entire text. Reacquaint yourself with the book from start to finish and take notes as you go. Let your teammates’ work may inspire you and clarify where your chapter falls in the big picture.

Read like a student

Imagine what it’s like to read your text after working the night shift while caring for a sick child or parent. Try reading the textbook on your phone while riding the bus. What can you do for this student to make the concepts more relevant, accessible, and manageable? Start your revisions by cutting everything that doesn’t absolutely need to be a part of the text.

Switch formats

If you are one of the original authors of the text, try reading your book in a format other than the one you used to create it. For instance, if you composed chapters on your laptop, print out the chapters and read them in hard copy. Sometimes changing the font or format is all it takes to make the text feel new again.

Keep in mind, you are on the home stretch! Your revision work is the last step before you begin the publishing process, which will be covered in the next chapter.