#adhd writing

[brainstreams]

ADHD Friendly Tips for Creative Writers

#1. Brainstorm and outline visually

Use mind maps, concept charts, digital whiteboards, and calendars! Mapping story elements visually helps manage "whirlwind" ideas. You can use tools like Scrintal or Mindomo. :)

Me? I use a giant whiteboard in my office. It helps a LOT.

#2. Break tasks into tiny steps

Divide them into very very small itty bitty chunks. Like, for example, "I'm gonna write 200 words." Or, "I'm gonna write for ONLY five minutes." Treat it like a mini-task. This makes it super easy to check things off on your to-do list, and it gives you a nice lil' hit of dopamine.

The fun thing about it? Believe it or not, when you sit down and write for only 5 minutes, sometimes you'll already be so engrossed in writing, you'll end up writing for 5 more minutes. Then 10. 15. 30! It's not always a guarantee you'll write for more than five, but starting with low-stakes makes it so much easier.

#3. Use daily/weekly goals

SUPER simple targets, like word count, pages, or finishing a specific scene. Once you hit your target, check it off and treat yourself to McDonalds.

When you check off a goal, no matter how big or small, it can spark motivation. It can also break down the belief that you "can't" write. When in reality, you just need to work with your brain! We're all different, so work different! :)

#4. Freewrite!!!

Give yourself permission to write first and edit later. DO NOT self-edit while you're in the process. It's hard to criticize anything when you're too afraid to put words on the screen.

When drafting, ignore perfection and turn off your internal critic. This makes it easier to slip into the "flow state", where everything just... flows, you know? It's also fun to write without pressure. 'Cause writing's supposed to be FUN, right? Not painful. Well. Most of the time.

#5. Use TTS or read-aloud

If typing feels slow, try speaking your ideas. You can use text-to-speech to capture your thoughts quickly, although it tends to sound robotic. I would recommend speaking with your own voice instead. When you "hear" your draft, it's easier to help catch flow problems and keep yourself engaged.

Those are some five quick ADHD friendly writing tips! I hope this helps you in the future. Keep writing! ;)

Hi, I'm Brainstreams (Adrian)! Like what I do? You can support me at https://linktr.ee/Brainstreams. Follow for more tips! New advice every Saturday.

[seyvia]

I am working on how I write.

Sometimes, in my writing, even I have found it hard to tell when someone is interjecting themselves into my written conversations without highlighting the words in a designated color. So I'm trying the more script like writing style... I suppose I'm looking for feedback on whether or not this is a welcomed change.

Below are spoilers for Fairytale Affair:

Soy: "Ah! there you are, I have need of your services Sir. Avi."

Avi: "You won't be getting anything from me, Soy. Lumin wants me to stay with Aine."

Soy revolts back, looking appalled,

Soy: "PRINCE LUMIN AND THE QUEEN, SIR! Do not disgrace the royal family with your impertinence! HONESTLY!" He corrects, with the vein in his head twitching.

Avi's eyes roll back into his head as he turns towards the window.

Avi: "Perhaps "The Prince's" squire can tend to you."

-End scene.

I think it works better for my adhd, as in requiring less description from me. but I can still add expression with the words like: he scolds or Avi's eyes roll back.

Let me know if this is agreeable or not...pls be kind. Idk what I'm doing.

[zarinari]

Wild how finally reaching a point in my story I've been itching to write has killed (tanked maybe is a better word? It's not totally dead) my drive to keep going.

I'm feeling very satisfied right now. Proud of myself for reaching my goal. My brain is very much like "Good job, take 5, take a nap, drink some water." Which is probably good, but I'm always slightly worried my hyperfixation is going to leave. I've abandoned projects for less than this, but I know myself well enough now to know what's really going on: I'm going to have to organize all my notes for the new subplots, map out the next few chapters, find the next "happy point" I want to reach in the story.

Basically, starting a "new project" within the current existing project, and my brain is like, "That sounds like work, I don't wanna do that rn."

And honestly, this next arc is probably going to be quite fun to write, because I get to play with the social aspects of it now, the part I lovingly call my Rumor Arc. And I already have an idea of what I want to do with the next few chapters anyway. I just have to map out my beats, and then I'll be back at it again by next week.

But it's those parts I have to keep focused on. Don't focus on the work, focus on the goal, and the fact that I know I'm going to have fun getting there.

[oakenroots]

The struggle when I've been writing a lot but take a break to do something necessary like cooking or eating is that then my brain goes, "Okay, I would like to go back to the story I was reading" like its a story that is updating daily like my web comics. Unfortunately, I can't just "go back" to it like there's an update because its ME writing it. I must write the update to the story if I want to read the update. But everything else I try to read or game I want to play, they're all devoid of any enjoyment because my brain is holding the endorphins hostage until I go back to writing.

[hawks-flat-ass]

Hey y’all—guess who cralled out of Ulthar. It's me. I live.

As you might have gathered from my last post, I had to lock the hell in for a zine fic. What I thought would be a cute little one-week sprint turned into a full month of writing, trimming, rewriting, formatting, bargaining with the gods, and wrestling the word count down to the acceptable limit. I hit the exact maximum word count, which feels like both a victory and a curse. It’s done now, and I’m just waiting for the head of the zine to sign off.

I also got confirmation that I can write a fully fleshed-out version of the fic once the zine is released, free of word constraints. Will I ever get to it? Who knows. But the door is open, and I’m kind of excited about it, even if the last stretch felt like dragging myself across broken glass.

Anyway, I’m back. Unless I get yanked back to do an overhaul for any works, or another fandom project decides to jump me in a dark alley, uploads will resume.

Now, listen. I wasn’t only doing event work during my little disappearance. The hyper-productivity demon did not leave my body, despite multiple attempts to excise it. Completely unrelated to events, I have drafted 25k words of Bonus Features brainrot, wrote a 4,200-word plot dump, a 10k outline, and started marinating additional installments for Rot. Bonus may get a name change when/if I upload it, but that’s a problem for Future Me to deal with.

I also built a new Fandom Carrd to replace the old one. It started as a proof-of-concept playground for some CSS I was writing professionally, and then it just... mutated into something much bigger. Three pages on the home page still need to be built out and optimized for mobile, but that’s because I’m balls-deep in one of the deeper sections right now.

I set up a Carrd for the main Discord server, too. The colours and layout are still placeholders because I’m waiting on graphics, but if I finish mine first, I’ll just start slapping things together and making sure it’s WCAG-friendly so no one strains themselves.

I have also been beta-reading for my bestie, @prettyliminal, my buddy @siverfanweedo, for a couple of events, and for a few people who have reached out to me directly on Discord.

So, yes, the productivity gremlin remains undefeated, even with a 40-hour week commitment.

Blackbird uploads will resume. It’ll be interesting to revisit it since I haven’t touched the story since I wrapped up on my end last summer, and I have a very specific edit window to keep myself from rewriting entire things out of spite. We’ll see if the tone survived the passage of time.

After all that, I have a story currently squeezing my balls (if that wasn’t obvious). I might start posting the small pieces I wrote specifically for Tumblr just to get them out there while I keep drafting. Maybe they’ll even make their way to AO3 if I feel brave. This does mean that Cherry Blossom, The Games We Play, Catnip ch.3, and Azure Down are still sitting in the corner gathering dust while this new obsession ruins my life. If I need a break, or if my ADHD decides to yeet into another direction like it did when I wrote Vieras, I might drop something for those, too.

And to the person(s?) who asked about my OCs in my inbox: I haven’t forgotten you. I just had to shut everything down to eliminate as many distractions as possible to get the zine fic done. After I sort through the ungodly amount of anon harassment I still get (it’s been a year since I removed the cancer from my life, but apparently we’re still doing this), I’ll get back to drafting that. I also adjusted my scope because originally, I was going to give you all of my OCs, but... girl, let’s be so for real. I staffed an entire restaurant with OCs this month.

I’ll still probably be a little quieter here. The best place to reach me is Discord, either through any of the servers I own, the event servers I’m in, or through DMs.

Peace, ya’ll, and happy Monday!

[themadmorrigan]

Me: Brain. You need to write a death scene. Focus. Kill that character like you set up in your last chapter.

Brain: Okay, so. What if, instead, I make you write a scene where the High Lord's meeting takes place and Nesta attends as as an emissary and meets Eris Vanserra for the first time and realizes that they're mates?

Me: :| Also me: Fine, I guess.

[kailslynn]

me reading the previous chapters on my WIP: WOW IM SO GOOD AT THIS

vs

me writing new chapters for my WIP: WOW I FUCKIN SUCK AT THIS

[paranormal-peri]

I am in love with the fic so much ughhh I can’t describe it!!!! IT’S SO GOOD!

I feel like one of the main reasons I love it is the way it’s written. It makes it feel more…impactful? More emotion I guess. Or makes the emotions Peri feels easier to understand. I can’t describe it well but it’s very good. Your writing is very good. That with the names of the chapters being silly while the fic is pure angst it great. It kinda makes me wanna read more angst that’s long and emotional.

keep up the good work bro the fic is so good ahhhhhh!!!!!!

I’m so greatful people enjoy my writing.

I honestly wasn’t sure if anyone would bc there wasn’t much angst in the fandom, but also I thought people might because there wasn’t enough angst in the fandom, ya know?

But also because I have a bit of a unique writing style. I write in a way that feels right for me.

No rules.

I allow myself to format the way I want, and word things the way I want without worrying about what I’m “supposed to do”

I write like poetry in a way, it’s fun and allows me to express myself more. I focus on what I want to focus on. If something feels boring to write, It’s probably boring to read, so I rather leave it out or write it from a different angle.

I think I’ve said this before in an AO3 comment reply, but I think a lot of my writing style has to do with the fact that I have ADHD. I struggle with focus a lot unless it’s something I’m really interested in, but even then I get distracted and procrastinate. I’ve learned a few tricks around this that helps, and it affects my writing style a lot.

-I have more spaces between lines so it doesn’t look too overwhelming.

-“if something is boring to write, it is boring to read” thinking

-focus on the good parts

-Always keep in mind what your readers came here for.

-keep things snappy and to the point (don’t go overboard with describing unimportant details)

In a way, I guess you could say I’ve created an “ADHD friendly work” idk if that’s already a thing, if it is, I haven’t seen it and want to see it.

I kind of wish there was more works that were like mine. I struggle a lot with reading books. I only really read fanfics because those are the only things that can keep my interest without me zoning out or getting frustrated that I couldn’t process what I just read or I get lost in meaningless words.

I guess I really just write what I want to read. I hope I can inspire others so that I can also read what I want to read.

We need more ADHD friendly works, and I’m happy to fill that role a little.