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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