Dreaming up a universe is easy. Ridiculously easy. I can spin entire civilizations while standing in line at Target. I’ve built magic systems in the shower. I’ve cried over fictional deaths that haven’t even been drafted yet.
But finishing the book is... complicated. 👀
I sit there with this galaxy-sized idea in my head and somehow—somehow—I can’t get past chapter TWO. Or I can, but then I forget what I set up in chapter one. Or I write one scene obsessively for three days straight and ignore the rest of the manuscript like it's the Moon from Majora's Mask.
It’s not laziness. It’s not lack of passion. If anything, it’s too much passion with nowhere to land.
ADHD, for those of us living in it 24/7, isn’t just “ooh squirrel.” (Although it is... sometimes). For the most part, for most of us, it’s largely an executive function issue, which is a fancy way of saying the brain’s project manager keeps calling in sick. Planning, sequencing, time management, holding multiple moving parts in working memory at once—in neurotypical brains? 👍 That's all good.
For ADHD brains? There is a real, painful struggle.
I'm juggling plots, character arcs, emotions, metaphors, logistics, pacing, realism, and the small detail of—oh right—actually writing sentences. All in my head. At once. No wonder it feels like trying to carry groceries without bags. Things are going to spill.
What happens when we push? We start everything, we finish nothing. We hyperfocus on one delicious scene and ignore everything else. We forget a character's eye color midway through drafting. We avoid outlining because it feels like taking a sledgehammer to our confidence.
Our brain chases novelty. It does not chase committment.
And that's okay. Brains can be different. Not all of us have to be the same. But what's not okay is beating youself up for it.
Instead of brute-forcing strategies that are physically incompatible with your brain, try strategies that work with your brain.
After doing some research on ADHD, some things keep showing up. External structure helps. A lot.
👉 Accountability buddies (highly recommended)
👉 A planner
👉 A schedule
👉 Timers
👉 Deadlines (whether real or imposed)
When the brain struggles to generate organization internally, you borrow it from the outside world. You don’t have to “try harder.” You need to scaffolding.
Instead of “write chapter three,” you shrink it. Outline three bullet points. Draft the opening scene. Write a killer first sentence hook Write 250 messy words and call it a day (and by messy, I mean MESSY). Small targets are less threatening; they don’t trigger that frozen, deer-in-headlights feeling.
Instead of storing your entire plot in your skull, you put it somewhere visible. Paper. Planner. Wall calendar. Sticky notes that multiply like rabbits. Out of your head and into the physical world. Give your working memory a rest. It can't do it all.
Visual tracking is amazing—crossing off a box, updating a word-count tracker. Give your brain a breadcrumb trail of little dopamine hits. ADHD brains thrive on tangible proof that something is happening. Otherwise it feels like you’re sprinting on a treadmill.
Using a planner, I could flesh out characters properly before drafting. Map chapters one by one. Track word counts without guessing. Dump half-formed ideas into a designated space instead of letting them ping around my brain at 2AM when I'll inevitably forget them.
If there is one first step you should take -> Use a planner.
There are great ones for free on the internet. I also have a detailed 60-page novel writing planner made for ADHD brains.
Six pages, printable, broken into seven sections—everything you will ever need to write that first book. It’s thorough because ADHD doesn’t do well with vague. It’s structured because structure can actually free up creativity (contrary to what some gurus say).
And I built it myself, from one ADHD squirrel to another. :P
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In conclusion, you are not a broken being. You will write that book someday. But you need to take it one step at a time.
This post was proudly written without AI.
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Authors’ Favorite Hobby: Creating Their Own Problems
As a beta reader, I’ve realised authors don’t actually have plot problems they over-complicate simple conflicts, add extra characters instead of deepening the ones they have, avoid letting characters have honest conversations, bend their own world-building rules, and promise to “fix it in edits” like edits are some magical place where consequences disappear.
With Love, Obviously
This is said with affection. The problem is never a lack of creativity — it’s usually too many ideas running ahead of structure.
Gentle Reminder
Sometimes you don’t need:
• another subplot
• a dramatic twist
• a mysterious new side character
Sometimes you need:
• clear motivation
• consistent stakes
• one honest conversation
Writers, what’s the most self-inflicted plot problem you’ve created?
Beta readers, I know you have stories.
Okay, so I‘ve had this story idea- TWO YEARS AGO. I haven‘t started writing it yet, because I have so many other projects running, but I at least wanted to share the idea wit you all. Maybe you like it as much as I do.
SHIELD ACADEMY AU:
Clint Barton (just turned 19), got recently released from juvenile prison, where he was sent for a short detention time by a judge who was sick and tired of repeatedly seeing him charged with smaller crimes. He‘s out now, lives in a shared apartment with a 4years older Brock Rumlow (uhum) in a small town. To get through his probation time, he needs to keep a job. News travel fast in the small town and he lost his two last jobs. His social worker and somehow friend Phil Coulson (Yeah we need Phil) gets him at job at a janitor at SHIELD Academy, which is located outside town. Clint hates it, but takes the job, because damn he needs it. Principle Fury and his second in command Maria Hill (who else?) are sceptical, but they owe Coulson a favor, so they give Clint a chance.
Enter the rest of the Avenger crew as teachers- suggestions about who could teach what can be taken, but I have a rough idea. Of course they get curious why a kid suddenly works at the academy. The first approaches don‘t go well. Clint feels super uncomfortable at an elite Academy for the offsprings of all the rich and important people. It takes a while, but eventually Clint opens up a little- following is a reveal of a troubled childhood, a bunch of triggers and fears, an abusive room mate, zero self worth on Clint‘s side, stumbling into drug dramas with the not so clean students of the academy, developing friendships and ultimately - WinterHawk ship.
It‘s all planned out, and will maybe never see the light of day as a story, but I at least wanted to share the idea.
When you try to write, but your fur baby demands cuddles! 🤣 #Cats #Writing #AuthorProblems #WriterLife https://www.instagram.com/p/CguNVhHLqUS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
I came to a startling revelation the other day: I’ve become a domesticated loli. 🤯 Way back in my younger days (i.e., last year), I was all about clubbing, getting wasted, and having recreational sex with a small, select group of friends and exes. I wrote when the mood struck, but otherwise, I was all about living. If you think some of my Diary entries last year and the year before were bad, you have no idea. The things I didn’t record we’re way, way worse. 😅
Then the Coronavirus happened, and I was forced to stay indoors. It was a dramatic lifestyle shift, for sure, but also an unexpectedly pleasant one. After the initial outrage/tantrums/bouts of crying, I decided to make the most of my incarceration and turn up the dial on my writing, and… well, before I knew it, everything kind of just changed.
Instead of managing to squeeze out hundreds of words a day, I bled out thousands. Instead of straining to publish three or four Patreon posts a month, I released three times that. And I had an immense amount of fun with it all, so much so that at the end of the day, I felt creatively (and mentally) drained. So awesome.
Which makes me wonder. What’s going to happen once this is all over with? Once the virus is more or less under control? Once I can go out again and I’m free to frolic to and fro like I used to?
I’m not entirely sure that I want to anymore. I kind of like staying indoors, being productive, and being safe from all the craziness outside my door. I was thinking about all this the other day, and I came to a startling revelation: my prison, my bubble, has become comfortable. In fact, I’m not sure how often I’ll go out at all once this is all over with. Is this kind of how prisoners feel when they’ve been incarcerated for a long time? Do they dread suddenly having absolute freedom thrust upon them?
What about you? Are you going to resume your normal life once all this insanity is finished, or has it permanently scarred you in some way? Let me know.
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