ADHD

Okay so first thing, I want you to understand that writing is hard. Finishing a writing is hard. A lot of things happen to make it so I don't finish.

The most notable thing is that writing and whatever the subject of the writing is is often a hyper focus. So I'm obsessed with the idea for days maybe even just hours, possibly weeks. And then sometimes I never touch it again.

This is something I think medication would help with (at least for me). This is also very normal. Give yourself permission to do that. Sparks don't last forever.

The second thing is, sometimes my ideas and my writing are too grandiose and they kind of balloon to the point where there's too much and I can't seem to keep a handle on everything and I get overwhelmed.

In this instance I have found that changing the medium I'm writing the story in helps. Comics are a good example. I can't draw very well but I can storyboard comic panels of my story. Helps me cut out the fat and the extra stuff I don't need and make it a more clear picture in my head.

I have problems fleshing out characters, their motivations and their actions based on those motivations.

I'm not gonna lie. I got into D&D because someone offered and I was curious but the game helped me to sort through this kind of conundrum.

"What would you like to do?" Is a question I ask myself and my characters all the time and sometimes if I'm conflicted I can roll dice. This helps with decision paralysis and so on.

Shorten your stories. Challenge yourself to write a whole idea in one page. This is a writing prompt type thing I learned in college. It goes together with the other bit from college which was "ask yourself what's taking your attention in the story". This way you can focus on the parts your brain think need to be there. It helps me to hyper focus and get what I view as the important parts down on the page.

I'm one of those people who rereads and edits as I write but also one of those people who agree that you should have a first draft before you do major edits (spelling and punctuation and grammar are minor, changing the turn of phrase or moving bits of the story around are major).

Give yourself permission to hyper focus on other things and make a deal with yourself to come back to that thing in a specific span of time.

Have a time when you write. Like. This day from this time to this time. If nothing gets on the page in that time? Let yourself take the break. It doesn't have to be the same day every week or even the same time. But give yourself office hours. Even if you don't write a lick it'll help. You can use that time to storyboard or outline or write ideas on slips of paper and put them in a fishbowl or something.

It's okay to do a thing if you aren't good at it right away. I am such a perfectionist that it's hard for me to remember that. I definitely have the ADHD "if it's worth doing it's worth doing right the first time" mentality.