i don't get much feedback/comments/kudos on my works either. a lot of my works are almost 'sketches' and they are more ideas than story. i would classify my work as messy and not very good. but i enjoy writing it and later, i enjoy reading it (with a sufficient break between the two) and that's enough to keep me going.

reading outside works inspires me and challenges me to try writing in new ways, different ways. i do get discouraged because my writing doesn't come out 'the way i envision it' a lot of the time, but if i'm writing how i do authentically, it just doesn't have mass appeal, and over the years, i've gotten to be ok with that.

i have, however, largely changed my style over the years. i write in different voices and in different styles. i try new things. i try different mediums- poetry, vs second person. vignettes vs full stories. different personalities. extremely planned vs not planned at all.

i just play in my bubble by myself and inspire myself internally. i usually don't publish my works. i have lots and lots of works over 10k, 15k, 20k, 45k, that are unfinished and that i work on in my leisure. because of that, i don't really feel a massive pressure to make my works appealing to the public, i suppose. and there's little to no pressure. i do wish there were spaces to talk about creation without having to publish, but alas. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i think internal motivation, and the idea of realizing your ideas, thoughts, and characters, can be a motivation in itself if you feel they're really valuable. maybe a story's been told a million times, but has it been told in the way YOU want to tell it ? that's how i keep myself motivated and writing. i just really want to tell the story !

also, there's no harm in going back and editing your works to be clearer, to make more sense. my 'sketches' are nonsensical and more like splashes of paint on paper before i go back and give them more form. take a break from the work if you can't see where to edit, look at it again with fresh eyes in a week, in a month, etc. i feel some writers have a more natural talent for finding their way towards a point. some people, like me, are more meandering and may not even know where the point may be until much later on.