ADHD Tips for Writers, Take 2
Hiy'all, I'm back on my shit because my old "ADHD tips for writers" post is the like only post I still see in my notes at all times and there's a few problems with it so I'd like a do-over plz
Anyways, the obligatory disclaimer: I find ADHD tips are super useful for writers whether they have ADHD or not, so feel free to read & use the tips in this post if you find they apply.
Respect your fatigue. Here's the thing about ADHD. You get fatigued super easily. We know this. But when I say "respect your fatigue," I only partly mean it as taking breaks when you're tired. Before you decide you're too burned out to write, weigh this: people who have ADHD wear themselves out MORE when they have nothing to mentally chew on. Sometimes respecting your fatigue means respecting that you need to paradoxically put in more effort to do your writing, because that will actually slow your fatigue down in the end. Try it, if it doesn't work take a break.
Get ahold of the pressure level. Pressure is a tool for you to motivate yourself, you should NOT be under it at all times. How to do this? Adjust your goals, don't marry your outline.
Set the right goals. Stressed by wordcount but can work by hour? Can't focus for any stretch of time but can hyper-focus if you promise to get one scene done? And consider mix-and-matching. You can make a goal of getting a scene done in one day, but if that scene happens to go over 1k then it's reasonable to quit. If you set a goal that is actually attainable, it's safer to put pressure on it.
Confines begone. Seriously, don't try to make yourself do things in a Stupidly Specific Way. You do NOT need to draft in submittable manuscript format. You DON'T need it to fit your outline exactly. It doesn't need to fit a genre, it doesn't need to appeal to a specific audience, it doesn't need to be what it was in your head. If working with those things slows you down or makes you stressed, YEET.
Pavlov, Profit. I write on my bed with a scented candle while wearing a certain pair of pants. I use a specific playlist to cue me in to which WIP I'm working on. Maybe I pull out a specific stim toy I don't use otherwise. I write at a certain time of day and look at certain pictures while I do it. I drink water with lemon in it when I don't if I'm not writing. The words flow like a crystalline river and I don't even know how.
No I'm serious I cannot emphasize enough how powerful Pavlov is, literally it is the BIGGEST hack of my life. You train your brain to identify what "writing mode" is and afterward if you just set up the trappings of "writing mode" brain goes "OH OK NOW WE WRITE." I can't even
Throw slumps off with word wars and writing sprints. As always, word of caution for those who have trouble with their self-expectations: if you can't make the words sprint, that's ok! This is super useful to me and others for kicking off a writing session, but if you struggle to focus for any length of time then don't stress! But I do seriously recommend trying out word sprints at whatever time limit works for you, because after you've done it the words happen so. Much. Easier. I'll personally rev up with 5 mins, 15 mins then 30 mins. That 30 gets into the "this might actively burn me out" territory, so be cautious. It really might not work for you.
Don't underestimate minor changes. Font! Color! Screen blue-light! Using a different word processor! Tweak and change, hack the brain.
Journal about it. When I get stuck on a project, I will literally open a new file and just ramble into the file like I'm explaining the project to someone. It's rubber duck decoding, except it exercises the same muscles you use to do the actual writing. Makes for a great warm-up or dust-off.
Identify if/when you need outside support. Sometimes you need to ramble to a friend in order to kick a slump, sometimes you need community support for a WIP through the whole process. It might change for each case.
External incentives generally don't work. Honestly, I find external incentives don't work for me point blank, let alone to get myself to write. Maybe you can drag yourself across the ground like that sad cat on a harness by promising yourself a bowl of ice cream, but you're just not going to do your best work like that. You need to foster genuine motivators.
External motivators are different from incentives. If you're writing because someone is waiting to read it, that's not an incentive, it's a motivator.
Internal motivators that can be useful: fostering excitement for WIP elements (not by saying "if I write x words I get to make another moodboard, more like going ahead with the moodboard and using it to increase ur excitement), making a bar chart of progress and watching it grow, de-pressurizing writing so much that it can be used as a wind-down.
Are you a pantser who lives in a constant state of writer's block? No you're not you're not, you need to develop some sort of plan if you're getting stuck constantly. It doesn't need to be a super locked-in plan (I don't recommend those in general), but using lighthouse planning or developing some guiding element is important.
Contrarian hack: have someone who isn't a writer write the thing your're stuck on for you. (Consider: have AI write it for you.) Read it. Dislike it and use the motivation to write yourself. Profit.
Struggling to get started because the WIP is too daunting? Don't work on the whole WIP. Work on This Scene. This Scene too daunting? Work on This Small Part of This Scene. This Small Part too big? Work on the next sentence. Work on opening the WIP. Break the steps down as small as you need to.
SO. Be mindful of what you expect from yourself, do NOT let others decide how your process works, and do NOT hold yourself to any standard that inhibits you. Do what feels good both in the moment and after, because that is a good indicator you're doing healthy, sustainable writing.