How Do ADHD Writers Do It?

The obvious next step on this strange journey is to seek out ADHD-diagnosed writers and find out how they’re doing it. After all, if they can work past these symptoms, so can I.

I’ve already found ways to diminish most of the symptoms I experience. I’ve got workarounds for my workarounds that have helped me do well in school and my work life. I’ve managed to stay organized. I’m armed-to-the-teeth with lifehacks tailored specifically to the way my brain works.

If I can just get past these last few speed bumps, I should be able to tackle an entire novel. ^I don’t know why, but it felt good typing that.

THREE THEORIES

My main problem seems to be a lack of motivation that is so powerful, it seems to actively undermine my intentions of finishing my novel. Why? My brain may actually be dopamine-deficient. If this is true, an increase in dopamine should–in theory–make me more likely to write every day.

The second theory is that, to some extent, I have the same prefrontal cortex (PFC) problem that a person with ADHD experiences. The harder I concentrate on something I subconsciously consider important yet menial, the less neural activity I get in my prefrontal cortex. If I can’t manage to trick my brain into hyperfocus mode, it’s a losing battle that ultimately ends in defeat, ironically because I cared so much and put forth efforts to concentrate. This…kind of goes hand-in-hand with theory number one. Maybe my PFC doesn’t “light up” because it’s not receiving dopamine rewards.

And if theory number two is true, then stimulating my PFC should help curb my problems. In theory, of course.

Theory the Third is that, if ADHD writers (hopefully not misdiagnosed) can write every day, then my goal shouldn’t be out of my grasp.

So let’s see what’s “hot” in the ADHD writing arena.

THE HUNT FOR ADHD WRITER TIPS

My initial searches were looking grim. I was seeing videos with titles like this: 

Writing On vs. Off My Meds. Hint: It Did NOT Go Well

Uh-oh.

Another one of the most-viewed ADHD writer tip videos out there was … shockingly boomer. (Sorry to boomers out there, but I don’t know of any other way to put it.) After a forced (and obviously staged) introduction, a lady with an iPad explained she misplaced her bluetooth keyboard, thereby discovering the microphone feature for the first time. She then gave a cringe-worthy tutorial on how to use it (even though its use is painfully self-explanatory). Integrated speech-to-text, to her, was some major breakthrough that no other ADHD writer with a Mac had thought of before.

Or at least that’s the way she presented it, knowingly or not. I mean, good on her for finding something that works, and hopefully it helped more than a few other Luddites…err…people. But still, not for me.

I’m not interested in seeing doctors or taking prescription meds, so the “writing on vs. off my meds” vid doesn’t help me. If anything, it’s discouraging. What I really needed was to find a writer who’s managed to output full-length novels without prescription meds.

And the speech-to-text method is something I’ve tried in the past, but it’s also not for me. Makes for a far too messy and aimless first draft. Plus, it’s a novelty, at best. It can make a writing session or two more interesting (adding those precious temporary planks), but I have my doubts it worked for her in the long-term, especially considering she’d just stumbled upon the method that very afternoon. (How she somehow managed to overlook the obvious microphone icon integrated in the virtual keyboard for so long is beyond me, and I don’t even own an Apple product.)

No, I’d much rather learn about reliable strategies that have helped ADHD writers find long-term success and produce full-length novels.

And, what do you know? In my research, some of the strategies I’ve come up with in this very blog began to bubble to the surface:

FAIRLY RELIABLE ADHD STRATEGIES

1. Write down ideas ahead of time to bring to writing sessions later.
   I was thrilled to see this. I absolutely use this strategy and have done so for many years. I used to write ideas all over the place, such as in notebooks, on my smartphone, and in notepad documents on my computer. Felt a bit disorganized. But now, I’ve consolidated the ideas in the document of shame. When I do find enough energy to go through this document and move my ideas to where they need to go, it does help me write, and provide me with fuel to keep writing.
   
2. Keep projects in a highly visible place.
   I haven’t mentioned it here, but this does seem to work. At the very least, I need to have a shortcut on my desktop that opens straight into the story I want to complete. I’ve even gone as far as to rig my WIP document to open whenever I start or reboot my computer, and that kind of forces me into “step one”, getting me over the wall that I’d normally have to mentally climb before launching the document in the first place. If I decide I’m not writing that day, I’m forced to manually close that document. And if I’ve done that, I’ve no one to blame but myself. (…I’ve just convinced myself to set my document to launch on startup again.)

3. Start small and build momentum.
   My best writing streaks all started out small and built momentum naturally as I continued to write every day … until a long vacation would come along to inevitably crush my momentum. That’s why I refer to vacations as my old nemesis. Once I’ve decided to sit down and write after a long hiatus, I start with something small and unintimidating, like de-cluttering a small part of my document of shame.
   
4. Break down larger tasks into smaller bits.
   Another method I’ve preached about at length. By breaking down chapters into scenes, and scenes into paragraphs, and so on, I feel I’m better able to handle the task-at-hand without feeling too overwhelmed.
   
5. The “Pomodoro Technique”.
   This is something I’ve never (or maybe vaguely?) heard of, but many ADHD writers swear by it. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find any ADHD discussion on writing that fails to bring it up. The name comes from a cute little kitchen timer that looks like a pomodoro. The idea is to set the timer for 5 minutes in which you can do whatever you want. As soon as the timer goes off, you need to spend the next 25 minutes writing, distraction-free.
   
   Much like with deadlines, this little timer solves a lot of the problems ADHD folks face. Remember, they have trouble knowing when to start, trouble staying focused, and trouble knowing when to stop. It’s not fool-proof, but it does provide a concrete start, a concrete stop, and helps keep the writer focused, if only because they know another five-minute session is just around the corner.
   
   I find this technique intriguing, and I very well may give it a try. I don’t feel like stealing a timer from our kitchen, but fortunately there are a ton of Pomodoro Technique apps for computers and smartphones (even free, web-based apps) that can be used in place of a physical timer.
   
6. External accountability.
   Well, well, well. The thing that works best for me rears its ugly head again, this time in the ADHD writer tip lists. It’s undeniable that external accountability has single-handedly been responsible for my most productive writing, even resulting in my largest finished work to date. It’s also what kept my nose to the grindstone during those editing projects.

If it wasn’t clear already that these people have my number, what really crushed me was reading discussions and interactions between ADHD writers.

One writer was diagnosed at the age of 56. He shared a typical example of his internal dialogue:

Shit, so much stuff. I only have 500 words and maybe three hours to file this. What are the key facts? It’s such a simple story. It should tell itself. This should be easy: a cadet could do this, you fool. What should go first? No, I really like that bit. That’s such a good quote. That sentence is too long and complicated: rework it. But I really like that phrase.

Shit, you’ve written too much. The boss is looking at me; she must be running out of patience by now. Can’t believe I’ve lasted here this long.

OK, this will have to do; not happy, but it’s taken me half a day already, and I have other stuff to do.

I print out the story and run it past my colleague and friend. She says it’s great and why am I worrying. I press the send button, exhausted by nervous energy, unhappy with the story and awaiting a shitstorm of criticism.

ADD sucks.

What I see above…is myself. This is exactly how I feel at work. Too many of these phrases hit too close to home, like “Can’t believe I’ve lasted here this long.” I think that way at work an unhealthy amount of time. I mean, even that monologue in general … I’ve written near-identical monologues when I’m trying to psyche myself up to write a scene, cuss words and all. I end up getting frustrated, just like this, and self-deprecate myself. Then I hand over my finished work for someone to read, and they say, much like this man’s colleague, that I had nothing to worry about, that it’s great.

While reading that monologue, it felt like I’d found a kindred spirit for the first time. This isn’t the sort of thing you typically stumble upon during normal Writer’s Block research, or I’d have found it by now.

Another example:

Do you understand how many books and projects I’ve started? How many events I’ve run, how many just overall things I’ve tried to do and just can’t finish or my anxiety takes over and kills a projects before it’s even begun?

I’ve started writing short stories to practice finishing stuff. At least I can FINISH a short story (but the editing stopped me for like half a year), so I know I can do full chapters.

Again, it may as well be me saying these things. I’m in the exact same boat with the exact same feelings trying the exact same things.

I’m trying not to let confirmation bias enter this equation, but, damn, so many of these testimonies fit my experience too perfectly for me to ignore. I was even in tears at one point.

Then there was this livestream event, and the chatroom had ADHD writers bouncing ideas off of each other. One thing mentioned was something called “nootropics”. Specifically, Lion’s Mane. More on that tomorrow.