What keeps you motivated when you feel like your story isn't good enough?

[Maps]

I honestly take breaks to think. I know that I get inspired a lot by music or reading, so I’ll listen to music or read and wait for myself to come up with something I feel proud of.
I have written chapters I posted and felt down about. Like they aren’t good enough or that they’re repetitive. Or that I’m at a standstill in my story.
But like @nostalgicroxas said, it always helps to look farther down the line and figure out excited ways to connect your plot points. That’s currently what I’m doing!
I’ve also realized that outlining my chapters has helped a ton! I’ve made a list of chapters, titled them, and summarized what I’d like to happen in those chapters. It really helped with my motivation.

[Penni]

The fact that if I don't like it I can change it.

It's all part of the learning process and I feel like the more I learn, the better I get. Sometimes it can be frustrating when you get stuck but ultimately, it's worth it

[GamerPrincessXI]

I'd ask for help from my S.O. or random people on the forum. Occasionally make new threads, forget that they're open and take advice, seriously. I have a habit of rewriting posts and/or editing my posts on here a lot. Also, music helps a lot.

[vothnthorvaldson]

Because I'm not only an amateur, but also a beginner, I don't feel a lot of pressure to perform.

So, when I feel it's not good enough (and honestly, it's almost always the case, only, not very badly so), I spend some time thinking of what is wrong and how I could improve. When I feel I'm blocked by lack of skills, I work on the most blatantly poor skill; when I feel I'm getting lost in my story, I make a few mindmaps to get a better global understanding of what I'm doing.

So, in summary, if I find it's not good enough, I work on the most problematic areas, but without putting pressure on myself for results.

[keii4ii]

I listen to other people gush about their favorite unpopular stories. It gives me hope to know that even if a story fails to gain traction, someone out there might love it. To know that my own favorite stories aren't necessarily the most masterful ones. They just hit the right notes for me.

Relevant:

[liann]

This is honestly so inspiring. I also think about this from time to time. That maybe I won't achieve great fame but it still might resonate with some people who have read it. I think that I can consider that success too.

[Rhonder]

related:

r/pokemon - Favourite Pokémon Survey - RESULTS

even in this relatively small-scale internet survey only 4/809 didn't receive a vote for favorite Pokemon. That's pretty darn impressive lol.

On topic:

At this point in my webcomic life, the big motivator through inadequate feelings is just knowing that it'll be over soon I decided to start with a "short" one shot by design for this very purpose. There's a number of things I might have done slightly (or even drastically) differently with the story if I had been writing it now but... I'm a small handful of pages away from the end now, so I can wrap it up and try harder next time!

[rajillustration]

I like to remember that even the greats made a whole lot of content that was never published that people never read or think about. Like I was doing this epic long comic in college, and my teacher was like "whatever you're working on is not your magnum opus" and I was really offended at first because I thought my project was amazing but what he meant was 1.) I had some rose colored glasses on because it was a project I was clinging to from my youth and 2.) I'm going to be making lot of work in my lifetime, so I shouldn't let any one project consume me.

And what I learned is that I had to put the project away when my skill couldn't reach what I wanted the story to potentially be, and in the meantime just worked on several different stories to improve my skillsets. And, in the process, sometimes those stories clicked with different people. Not many people--I've never done anything famous, but like, I did a fancomic years ago that was so bad because I had carpal tunnel when I drew it, it only had like 30 followers, and years after I made it, I got this sweet message from someone being like "this is my favorite comic, when are you going to finish it" and it's like "uhhh never? but thanks wow" so you just never know what will connect with people. Especially since I find that engagement on comics is really, really low, so usaully I just have...no feedback from anything I've produced.

So I stay motivated by thinking of every single project as a stepping stone towards the storyteller I want to be. So if it's less than perfect right now, it's fine. It's like making a video game, it's always a mess under the hood, and we see all of the problems with it because we made it, but people reading it may not even care about those things, they just want to read some fun content. We're our harshest critics.

[joannekwan]

I'm going to be making lot of work in my lifetime, so I shouldn't let any one project consume me.

This is one of the mantras I stick to!
I'm always astounded by people who have the passion to stick to that one huge epic their entire lifetimes or still like working on something they came up with as a teen..

[ghostmaya]

read other comics, time with my partner, watch anime, then VOILA~ new inspiration

[IdiotWithPencil]

Booze if that fails hard liquor

and also having very low expectations on myself as an amature, I mean if it sucks then it sucks, nobody but my ego gets hurt if that happens and I just got to dust myself off and try again
there is always a next time when it come to indie webcomics so don't sweat it and keep on trucking

[SpavVy]

My readers.
Especially the ones that transferred over from Webtoon after the staff deleted a few episodes. Some readers even told me they will never abandon the comic so that made me feel good despite the crappy situation.

[Freemints30]

I know my comic isnt very good, and I have taken a break from for a month and Im back to working on it now(thou at a much slower rate). I just want to finish one project, and that what keeps me motivated. I look back on all the shit and mistakes I made during it and vow to never do them again in future projects.

I Just say to my self "once this comic is done my art and writing will be soo much better that I wouldnt cringe as much at my other work"

[Omeger]

well, i do crack cocaine

[abcde]

That hate for quitting fuels me.

Good story or not, I want to preserve.
Effort will not betray any one. In one way or another, if I keep on, I will improve.
It could start out badly, but perhaps along the way it'll be better.
As long as I keep on, there is a chance of it getting better. If I stop, the chances drop to zero.

It's not so much as expectations on myself or my work, it's more that I don't want to be a quitter.
I hate quitters. I hate them with all fibre of my being lol.
When I imagine myself being one of them, I feel like vomiting blood and I get so disgusted with myself. That greatly motivates me to carry on.
So if I decide to start something and publish it for the net to see, I'm going to see to it until the end.

TLDR inner rage motivates me

[SleepingPoppy]

It really helps that I think of it as a personal project that I just happen to have chosen to share. It takes a lot of this kind of pressure off (most of the time), and helps me keep going. Otherwise I do things like.. think about the things I like best about the story, the things I'm looking forward to drawing, the reactions I'm excited to see people have to those things. This tends to get the zip back in my drawing hand when my motivation flags.

Plus, not good enough for what/who? I'm not a professional writer. I'm not a published novelist. So there's no reason to hold my writing up to that standard. I'll just do my best, and learn from my mistakes for future chapters, and future stories.

[monotone_ink]

I've never thought that any of my work has ever been good, but the notion of stopping seems to be just as much of a waste. In a way, I've chosen this hell out of all the potential hells.

[AbelDraws]

My characters, for sure.

They've become so very dear and important to me I can't allow myself not to tell their story. It might not be the best thing out there, but I really want to do it for them. I don't know how silly this may sound to others but that's literally the main reason I don't plan on ever giving up until I've finished <3

[Emevsa]

Honestly? Habit. Creating our comics is part of our routine now. We have an outline that we follow to keep us on track and we write out our scripts so that I know what I'm doing when it comes to drawing. This keeps me going when I'm not feeling motivated to draw and boy does it help.

It also helps that deep down, we love creating the stories we do. Some days it's harder than others, and in some ways I feel like we've platued but, at the end of the day, SJ (my writing partner) and I do comics for us because it's what we wanted to read.

[xabelmind]

It may not be good enough, but it keeps me sane

Every story I write or draw is telling me in every page how I'm feeling, what I'm thinking about, what's up with the universe, etc.

It's a great analyzer and that keeps me going -shrugs-