Staying Motivated While Drafting and Revising

The mental and emotional labor of drafting and revising an OER has a lot in common with the physical labor associated with constructing a trail. The trail route may already be planned, but once the real work begins, it is easy to grow weary, because the work is repetitive and often invisible to everyone except the builder. OER work can feel the same way. Drafting and revising require mental endurance and emotional motivation to keep improving the learning path so it truly works for the people who will travel it. This chapter offers strategies for common challenges that can arise during that work.

What should I do when I lose motivation?

Writing and remixing takes time, and time is often in short supply. It’s also hard work, and in the middle of the work, it’s easy to lose motivation or lose focus. When you find your motivation dipping, consider doing one or more of the following:

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

Pushing through frustration doesn’t always lead to productivity. If you’re feeling stuck or if you’ve been staring at the same screen in the same location for hours, step away from your work. A change of scenery or engaging in an unrelated activity 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. 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.

Celebrate small wins

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

How can I make progress when I have very little time?

According to feedback from our OER for Social Justice faculty teams, finding time to write the OER has been the biggest challenge. While not everyone is working within the same kind of project structure, time pressure is one of the most common barriers to making steady progress.

Break it into micro-tasks

Feeling overwhelmed by a project can often lead to avoiding the task. Instead of thinking about an entire 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 time 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.

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 (well, maybe just a little?), just writing. That shared space and the accountability that it provides can offer external motivation to keep moving forward.

Supporting motivation as a project lead, library liaison, or support person:

Saint Mary’s College library liaison, Swetta Abeyta, found some great ways to keep her OER-creating faculty teams motivated:

Send lots of gentle reminders, encouraging them to sign up for training sessions, or reminding them of their deadlines – and that I’m happy to help if they need it.

Reaching out to teams if I see an OER or an interesting topic relating to their work..just to make sure that the open textbook they’re working on is sort of always on their mind.

Creating a space to share their stories and work with one another. Really hoping they get ideas and inspiration when they see what others are doing.

These small forms of encouragement can help keep a project progressing without making it feel too heavy a lift.

What can I do when I feel stuck?

Writer’s block has been a problem throughout history. Sometimes the challenge is not a lack of ideas, but difficulty getting started or shaping what you want to say. If you find yourself stuck, try one of the following methods to get your ideas flowing again:

Use AI as a thinking partner

If you’re struggling to get words on the page, try using AI to generate a rough outline, brainstorm ideas, or refine what you’ve already written. Used thoughtfully, these tools 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. As with all AI, always check the output for bias and inaccuracies.

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 others. 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.

Start with the easiest section

And again, if you are stuck, start with the easiest section. Do not force yourself to begin with the introduction or the most difficult part. Starting anywhere is often better than waiting to feel ready.

How do I approach revision when it starts to feel overwhelming?

The revising stage brings its own challenges. Often requiring multiple read-throughs and attempts, revision requires you to take a step back – which can sometimes feel like a step backward. Besides your own planned revision, you may also be getting feedback from collaborators, students, editors, instructional designers, librarians, or peer reviewers. While this can feel overwhelming, consider one or more of the following ways to reduce the anxiety and get clarity

Cultivate creative distance

One of the most valuable tools 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. To see it objectively, you might pretend you are providing feedback on a colleague’s chapter. The more you can let go of 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

If revision begins to feel scattered, step back and 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. Ask questions, like “what is this chapter doing for the entire OER?” or “how is this section supporting the chapter?”.  If you are collaborating on an OER, let your coauthors inspire you and clarify where your chapter falls in the big picture.

Switch formats

If you are 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.

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? Just like clearing an area before you begin laying down the fresh trail materials, start your revisions by clearing away everything that doesn’t absolutely need to be a part of the text.