ADHD

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Any tips from writers with ADHD? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago by deathmetal27@lemmy.world to c/adhd@lemmy.world

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I have been trying to get into writing short stories as a hobby. I have a couple of good ideas. But I tend to struggle when actually putting my thoughts to words.

Some issues I struggle with are as follows:

Inability to settle on the right words: I'll write something and think that what I wrote could be written better or differently and then I keep on writing and deleting and rephrasing with different words. Thus making very slow progress.
Problems with continuity: I might think up a somewhat long plot line. But I have to write the whole thing in one go because if I don't then my brain will splinter the story into multiple possible story branches when I stop and I am unable to choose the path to follow.
Lose interest in continuing if I take a break: If I stop writing mid way and take a break from writing for an extended period of time, I am unable to find the motivation to resume. Mostly because trying to catchup with the story up to that point feels hard. I have this same tendency with video games as well where I don't feel like picking up a game after an extended period of absence.

So is anyone here who does writing as either a hobby or professionally? If so how do you cope with your condition?

What I've found that works for me is to just make up the story as I go without much planning. The issue with this is approach I've found is that it's hard to find a conclusion to end the story.

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[–] darkmarx@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I struggle with editing too much while writing too. Sometimes its not thinking of the right word, searching for it, getting distracted, then spending 30 minutes on Wikipedia. Other times its going back and editing previous paragraphs to make everything flow better. The only way I've been able to get around this is by writing long hand. Writing with pen on paper has forced me to get things down. Once I'm done, I'll type it and do my first round of revisions.

As for continuity, I'm an avid outliner. I keep a notebook, and if I come up with a plot line, I'll outline it. Sometimes it distracts from what I'm currently doing, but I don't think of it as a distraction since I'm still writing. I have multiple, fully-outlined stories that I can pull from if stuck or try to weave into whatever I'm currently working on. When I sit down to write, I know everything that will happen. Writing becomes more about figuring out who the characters are and how they will react to the situation they're in since the plot is already known to me.

When you take a break and struggle coming back, don't try to catch back up. You never will. Instead, just try to move forward, get traction. This is where long hand helps me. There is a disjointedness when I step away for a while and come back. But I allow it and smooth it out in revision.

I'm not saying it will solve all your problems. This is just what has helped me get over some of the difficult humps while writing while having ADHD.

Edit: Fixed typo

[–] deathmetal27@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Can you give some examples of how you outline?