Advice for ADHD Writers
There are certain problems that those suffering from ADHD have especially when writing fiction. Problems that can make Writing a terrifying, anxiety-ridden, destroyer of self-esteem, and an absolute destroyer of any stories trying to make their way out of your brain.
I am a writer with undiagnosed ADHD. (My councilor and I decided not to bother with the formal testing, for reasons.)
In my case, coming up with ideas for stories isn't the problem.
In my case, coming up with ideas for stories isn't the problem.
It's shaving down the too many different directions
the story idea can go in, and all the different rabbit holes each of
those many different directions can disappear into, resulting in all too
many different possible Endings.
To give you an idea of some of the stuff that goes through my mind in the first fifteen minutes of coming up with an Idea:
- Should the World should I set the story in be Supernatural with ghosts and cryptids, medieval High Fantasy, futuristic Urban Fantasy, modern-day Contemporary, high tech Sci-Fi, low tech Steampunk, a Cross-genre?
- Do I want to write the story as a Comedy, a Revenge tale, a Power of Friendship story, or Love Conquers All? (I hate Tragedies. I won't write them.)
- In my Cast of characters, how many do I need to tell the whole story?
- Should the Main POV Character be a clever Kid, a troubled Teen, a successful Adult with everything to lose, or a tired Adult disappointed with their life?
- Should be the Main POV Character be Motive driven, Action driven, Emotion driven, or Apathetic with No drive? At the Crisis Points, which Drive should they switch to?
- How smart do I want the Main POV Character to be?
- What is the Main POV Character's one seemingly useless Talent that can be exploited at a Crisis Point, then built upon?
- Should the Romantic interest be the same gender, the opposite gender, someone with both genders, or someone no obvious gender?
- For the Villain, do I want to use a full-on psychopath, a misunderstood anti-hero, the Main POV Character, or the Romantic Interest?
- Should the Ally character be their best friend, a sibling, an animal, a spirit, a ghost, the Love interest, the Villain?
- What kind of magic do I want to include? (Even my Sci-Fi's have some form of magic. I just don't say it's magic.)
- What point do I want to make with this story?
- Do I want to write a 100k Novel, a 60k Category novel, a 40k Novella, a 20k Novelette, or a short story?
In short: my main problem is FOCUS.
What I do to maintain FOCUS:
from Romancing the Stone
MUSIC.
I use Movie Soundtracks, the kind that doesn't have people singing. Specifically, the Background Music soundtrack used to tell the story.
No
matter what genre I'm writing, someone has made a movie for it. It's
just a matter of matching the Mood the music expresses to the story I'm
writing.
I tried Classical music at first, but most of the musical pieces were too short. They were all one idea, one emotion, or one statement, expressed in 5 minutes or less. I needed music that would follow the ups and downs of a Story for hours at a time, and I needed the emotions that the music expressed to Match the story I was trying to tell.
Ballet music covered some of what I needed, but not nearly enough. Swan Lake, Wagner's Ring, The Nutcracker Suite, and The Firebird were just fine for writing Fantasy or Romance, but just didn't fit a Sci-Fi, a Mystery-Thriller, a Supernatural ghost tale, or Horror story.
The moment I listened to my first movie soundtrack; The Empire Strikes Back, my focus slammed into place and I was able to write in peace and comfort.
Some people can ignore the words being sung in their background music. I can't. Anyone talking at all grabs my attention so hard -- I lose track of anything I happen to be trying to do.
That's how easily my Focus is disrupted.
I tried Classical music at first, but most of the musical pieces were too short. They were all one idea, one emotion, or one statement, expressed in 5 minutes or less. I needed music that would follow the ups and downs of a Story for hours at a time, and I needed the emotions that the music expressed to Match the story I was trying to tell.
Ballet music covered some of what I needed, but not nearly enough. Swan Lake, Wagner's Ring, The Nutcracker Suite, and The Firebird were just fine for writing Fantasy or Romance, but just didn't fit a Sci-Fi, a Mystery-Thriller, a Supernatural ghost tale, or Horror story.
The moment I listened to my first movie soundtrack; The Empire Strikes Back, my focus slammed into place and I was able to write in peace and comfort.
HYPERFOCUS
Ahem... I get tons of work written.
----- Original Message -----
"How do you even get into a hyperfocus state?"
-- ADHD Newbie Writer
To trigger my HyperFocus, I start by removing all possible distractions.
I make sure to go to the toilet, set a fresh cup of coffee on my
desk, have two bottles of water, all reference materials needed within
arm's reach, an extra pack of cigarettes ready, phone muted or set on Do
Not Disturb, and the door locked.
I then turn on the correct soundtrack for the book or story I'm writing, and open the document file I'm writing in. After re-reading, and editing the previous chapter, I'm usually triggered.
I then turn on the correct soundtrack for the book or story I'm writing, and open the document file I'm writing in. After re-reading, and editing the previous chapter, I'm usually triggered.
For those with other people around while writing, I strongly recommend sound-dampening Headphones.
The only way I know of
to keep my writing fugue going is by Isolation.
Isolation is relatively easy for me, I live alone with my cat. No live-in
boyfriend, spouse, kids, or roommates to disturb me. My big L-shaped
desk sits in the living room surrounded by my bookshelves of reference
books. The couch, recliner, and coffee table are jammed in the far
corner for other people to use when they visit. I live at my computer desk.
I don't even have a TV because the only person in my house watching movies is Me. I can find anything my heart desires with Google -- and without commercials.
Other author friends of mine that have lovers, spouses, kids, or roommates have a dedicated home office with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door when they're working.
However... I also lose track of days, sometimes weeks when I'm in that state. Eating, bathing, paying the bills, and feeding the cat all fall by the wayside while I chug away at making Story happen. (I have a cat feeder and water bottle set-up for her specifically because of this. I also buy my cigarettes by the multiple carton so I don't have to stop writing to go buy more.)
Other author friends of mine that have lovers, spouses, kids, or roommates have a dedicated home office with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door when they're working.
However... I also lose track of days, sometimes weeks when I'm in that state. Eating, bathing, paying the bills, and feeding the cat all fall by the wayside while I chug away at making Story happen. (I have a cat feeder and water bottle set-up for her specifically because of this. I also buy my cigarettes by the multiple carton so I don't have to stop writing to go buy more.)
WARNING!
The HyperFocus State causes
Fatigue!
Writing takes Brain Power. Thinking is Hard Work. For that you need Stamina. If you don't have enough stamina to think hard for hours at a time, of course you're going to exhaust yourself.
Believe it or not, Reading is excellent practice for gaining and maintaining HyperFocus. After all, you need to maintain strong Focus to read a story for hours at a time. When your focus is strong enough, you won't even notice the words flying by. Instead, you'll be too busy watching the movie of the story you're reading.
Believe it or not, Reading is excellent practice for gaining and maintaining HyperFocus. After all, you need to maintain strong Focus to read a story for hours at a time. When your focus is strong enough, you won't even notice the words flying by. Instead, you'll be too busy watching the movie of the story you're reading.
The real problem with HyperFocus
is when it Ends.
is when it Ends.
HyperFocus ends most frequently by being Disturbed.
Anything can break a HyperFocus fugue. A sound, a smell, sudden contact from a person or a pet, the need to go to the toilet, or to get something to drink... Anything at all.
I Hate, Hate, HATE to be disturbed when I'm in a writing fugue. If I'm disturbed, my Rage knows no bounds. I'll rage slam the Decline button on my phone, refuse to open the door and scream, "I'm Busy!" Even my cat knows to hide when I'm in that state.
However, the damage has already been wrought, and the Fugue is Gone.
All that lovely writing high dopamine drops off and you CRASH.
After my rage-fit, I don't wanna do shit except Sleep.
HyperFocus Backfire
& Writing Anxiety
My HyperFocus can Backfire when I focus so hard on the current scene that I struggle to come up with a bridge scene to get to the next major scene. Or worse, completely forget what the next major turning point scene is supposed to be -- jarring me out of my writing fugue while still in the grip of all the emotions generated by the scene I just finished.
However...
Backfire is most often triggered if I am
Disturbed.
A Disruption in my
writing fugue, such as a phone call from a bill collector, my agent, or
someone else I don't like, or simply having to get up from my desk to
answer the door, will trigger a Backfire.
This can get really bad if I was writing a scene with strong negative emotions such as Anger, Futility, or Sadness.
Then comes the CRASH: the dopamine drop at the end of a HyperFocus writing high.
Then comes the CRASH: the dopamine drop at the end of a HyperFocus writing high.
This is when my writing anxiety comes to call. I start doubting if what I'm writing is worth all the effort I've already put into it. This can then descend into a "I'll never get this right!"spiral, or worse, a "My Writing is Shit!" spiral. Then comes the screaming at my computer, the slamming of things on my desk, then the crying to my editor, or worse, the burying myself under the blankets and wanting to stay in bed and sleep for days at a time, and refusing to write anything more on that story at all.
The only ways for me to weather a Crash, also known as the Recovery Period, is through; eating a full meal, ice cream, coffee, petting the cat, watching some anime, or playing a mindless video game -- and getting some Sleep. Maybe even taking a shower!
In short -- NOT thinking about the story I'm writing until I am refueled, re-centered, and ready to power through the next fugue.
OUTLINE to the Rescue!
The best way I've found to avoid the biggest cause of writing anxiety: "What the hell do I write Next!?" -- is by having a loose outline of the story's major turning points. This way, I can use my HyperFocus to write One Scene at a Time, and comfortably ignore the Next scene until I actually need to write it.
My Outline is my Map that keeps me from getting lost in my own story, and wandering away from my chosen Ending. Even if whole weeks pass by without a single word written!
My outline also makes it far less likely that I'll write scenes that don't actually fit in the story I'm trying to write. When I do come up with a scene that doesn't fit the story, I copy-paste that scene into a separate document and save it for a story is does fit.
Because I use only ONE Soundtrack per book, the Music I listen to not only keeps me in the same same mental/emotional space I started the book in, the music also encourages a consistent story rhythm from beginning to end.
Since I already know where the story is going due to an Outline, and a specific soundtrack playing to maintain the proper emotional context, it's just a matter of making sure I have No Distractions. With all that accomplished, I can Focus on writing only the current scene, and keep the later events on the back-burner, so to speak, where they can simmer until they're ready to be written.
In Conclusion...
Believe me, having a loose outline, the right music, and focusing only on what's right in front of you will help keep the ADHD trait of scattered thinking --which leads to doubting your own ideas-- under control.
