There are seasons in life when you feel inspired, energized, and ready to chase your dreams. But then there are seasons when everything feels heavier. The excitement is fading, the motivation is disappearing, and the dream that once felt so clear suddenly feels far away.
If you’ve been feeling lost, disconnected from your creativity, or unsure how to move forward with your writing goals, I want you to know something important: you are not alone.
Sometimes people begin writing with so much excitement, but somewhere along the way, fear, overwhelm, self-doubt, or simply life itself begins to quiet that spark. It happens more often than you think.
The beautiful thing is this: motivation is not gone forever. It can return. Sometimes that return is slow and takes a while. But it absolutely can come back.
I want to help you reconnect with your creativity, your momentum, and most importantly, your belief in yourself.
We’ll Cover:
Why You Might Be Feeling Lost or Unmotivated
One of the hardest parts about losing motivation is believing you’re the only one experiencing it.
But there are many understandable reasons why motivation fades.
Sometimes it comes from isolation. Writing can feel lonely when you’re pursuing a dream quietly by yourself. You begin excited, but without encouragement, accountability, or community, it becomes difficult to maintain momentum.
Other times, it comes from feeling like you are not making enough progress. You sit down to write, and suddenly the gap between where you are and where you hoped you would be feels enormous.
Comparison can also quietly steal your motivation. You see someone else publishing a book, announcing a launch, or sharing their success, and instead of feeling inspired, you begin questioning yourself.
Then there’s self-doubt. You may wonder:
“Am I good enough?”
“Do I really know how to write?”
“Who am I to call myself an author?”
I want you to know that these thoughts are incredibly common, especially for beginners.
But sometimes, the issue is not lack of ability—it’s simply fear wearing a different outfit.
And fear has a way of making dreams feel distant.
What Motivation Really Is (And What It Isn’t)
I think many people believe motivation is something they either “have” or “don’t have.”
But that simply isn’t true.
Motivation is not a permanent personality trait. It is not proof that you are capable or incapable. It is not something successful people magically wake up with every day.
Motivation comes and goes.
People doing meaningful work experience seasons where they feel uninspired or uncertain. What matters is understanding that a temporary lack of motivation does not mean your dream no longer matters.
It also does not mean you’ve failed. Sometimes we put pressure on ourselves to feel inspired all the time. We tell ourselves that if we were truly meant to write a children’s book, we would always feel excited to do it.
But creativity doesn’t work that way.
There are days when writing feels joyful and natural. There are also days when writing feels messy, slow, or unclear. Both are normal.
One of the biggest mindset shifts I encourage aspiring authors to embrace is this:
Your first draft does not need to be perfect.
In fact, perfectionism is often one of the fastest ways to lose motivation, because it makes every writing session feel heavy.
When I wrote my first children’s book, I went through 17 different edits before the story was ready to move into illustration.
Seventeen.
Progress came through continuing—not through perfection.
How to Get Motivated Again (Simple Starting Points)
When motivation feels far away, I believe the best thing you can do is make the process gentler by starting with smaller steps. You do not need to overhaul your entire life overnight. You simply need to reconnect with movement again.
One of the first things I recommend is remembering why you started in the first place.
Why did you want to write a children’s book?
Was it because you wanted to make a difference in a child’s life?
Was it because books impacted you deeply when you were young?
Was it because there’s a message in your heart that you want to pass on?
Your “why” matters more than you think.
When I was writing my first children’s book, I wrote my reason for writing on index cards and taped them around my house. I placed them on my bathroom mirror and near the places where I got ready in the morning so I could continually reconnect with the deeper purpose behind the work.
Another powerful way to rebuild motivation is to reduce overwhelm.
Instead of asking yourself to finish the whole book, ask yourself to write for 10 minutes.
Instead of demanding brilliance from yourself, allow yourself to practise.
You could even write something playful and simple, like imagining what the birds outside your window might be saying to one another.
Writing does not always need to feel serious in order to be valuable.
I also encourage you to find your people.
Community changes everything.
When you surround yourself with others who are also writing, dreaming, learning, and growing, it becomes easier to stay encouraged. You realize you are not doing this alone.
That support can make an enormous difference on the days when your confidence feels low.
Join the supportive community to learn exactly who you’re writing for, pick the best story idea, and discover how to write the kind of story children want to read over and over.
How to Stay Motivated Without Burning Out
Staying motivated is not about forcing yourself to work constantly.
It’s about building a sustainable rhythm.
I often hear authors say they want deadlines because structure helps them keep moving forward. I think gentle accountability can be incredibly helpful.
You might set a realistic goal for yourself, like completing a first draft within a month or dedicating a few writing sessions each week to your manuscript.
The key is creating expectations that encourage you rather than overwhelm you.
I also want you to remember to be compassionate with yourself.
Not every day will feel productive. Not every writing session will feel magical.
That is completely normal. Consistency matters more than intensity. Small actions repeated over time can lead to remarkable growth.
This is why I often encourage aspiring authors to focus less on perfection and more on simply continuing.
Momentum is built through returning to the work again and again with patience.
Reconnecting With a Dream You’ve Stepped Away From
Sometimes people feel disconnected from a dream they once cared deeply about. If that’s where you are right now, I want you to gently ask yourself why.
Often, underneath that disconnection is fear.
Maybe fear of failure. Maybe fear of being seen. Maybe fear of discovering the dream matters more to you than you realized.
Fear has a way of convincing us to step back from the very things that light us up.
But here’s something important I’ve learned:
Fear does not always disappear before we move forward.
Sometimes we simply learn to bring fear along for the ride while continuing anyway.
If writing a children’s book has remained in your heart for years, I truly believe that dream is there for a reason.
You do not need to know every step today. You do not need to have everything figured out. You simply need to begin again.
Because sometimes what helps motivation return is simply remembering that your dream still matters.
It’s Not Too Late
If you’ve stepped away from your writing dream for a while, I want you to hear this clearly:
It is not too late to begin again.
You are not behind.
You have not missed your opportunity.
Your story still matters. Your voice still matters.
And the child who may one day read your book matters too.
Sometimes the next step is not about becoming wildly motivated overnight. Sometimes the next step is simply deciding that your dream deserves another chance.
If you would like support, encouragement, and community as you work toward your children’s book goals, I would love to invite you to explore StoryMakers. It’s a beautiful space filled with aspiring and published children’s book authors who are encouraging one another every step of the way.
Join the supportive community to learn exactly who you’re writing for, pick the best story idea, and discover how to write the kind of story children want to read over and over.
You do not need to do this alone.
Just keep going, and keep believing possibility exists for you.