I feel simultaneously seen and called out. Wow. Very good post and I especially like the tip about doing stuff that writing adjacent. It gives you a bit of grace. You *are* working on your story and making it better through what supporting work goes into it. A well-constructed or researched post still needs those basic elements to be strong.
I run an online community for neurodivergent creatives and I would love to know what ADHD writing tips help you! I’m going to encourage my people to subscribe here!
Thank you for blowing up the negative tropes I run that say 'you're just wasting time. this isn't really writing. etc.' You described my writing life to a "T". The phone journal is my favorite. I'd like to have your ADHD writing tips!
This is incredibly helpful and inspiring. In my late 30s here and struggling to find my place in “traditional” professional avenues… I write a ton but never finish anything. Very much looking forward to your piece on how to organize phone notes to improve the likelihood of turning them into something. Thank you!
I spent my children’s childhoods waiting for the right time to write. They are grown now and I have had to face the fact that not writing is a choice I have made for a lot of complicated reasons.
Thank you so much for this post. It could not come at a better time. And another vote for writing tips for the ADD/ADHD brain. Really appreciate your work.
Giving myself deadlines has been a huge part of not just getting writing done but developing the confidence that I can organize myself to actually finish things. I started a weekly Medium column in July of 2020. No one but my friends and family were reading it, but I set a publication schedule anyway. And I was faithful. It came out Wednesday at noon for 52 weeks in a row, which I was super, super proud of. In January 2021 I started my own Substack and told myself that since I was publishing on Medium on Wednesdays that I would publish on Substack on Mondays and Fridays. Writing something new three days a week was, at times, a grind, but I did it. Once I retired the Medium column and was only publishing on Substack Monday and Fridays it felt like a vacation! But I still did it, without fail, on time, every single week.
When I was working more than full-time for other people one of my central fears was that if I had time to write I wouldn't actually do it. That all my grand talk about writing was just that, talk. But then I got laid off at the start of the pandemic and (after three months of getting four kids through virtual school and wondering what the hell was happening) managed to reclaim my brain. And then I started writing, or doing writing adjacent things as you so aptly name them, nearly every single day. I created the structure, the obligations, the deadlines, and I followed through. It's been a huge confidence builder.
Oh girl, #2 describes me to a tee. I also tend to put off the things that I don't want to do every day at work instead of doing those things first, so I can get it out of the way. Great ideas, thanks.
You've been an inspiration to me as I grope my way toward becoming a writer (that still sounds weird to say publicly) and now, you write this post and to quote another commenter downthread, I feel both called out and seen at the same time. Thanks.
One vote for ADHD writing tips from a fellow ADHD female trying to write while my kid is home sick.
I feel simultaneously seen and called out. Wow. Very good post and I especially like the tip about doing stuff that writing adjacent. It gives you a bit of grace. You *are* working on your story and making it better through what supporting work goes into it. A well-constructed or researched post still needs those basic elements to be strong.
I run an online community for neurodivergent creatives and I would love to know what ADHD writing tips help you! I’m going to encourage my people to subscribe here!
Thank you for blowing up the negative tropes I run that say 'you're just wasting time. this isn't really writing. etc.' You described my writing life to a "T". The phone journal is my favorite. I'd like to have your ADHD writing tips!
YES to ADD writing tips
I'm interested in the ADHD writing tips as well!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I expect it will help a lot of people be able to finally create what they’ve longed to share with the world!
This is incredibly helpful and inspiring. In my late 30s here and struggling to find my place in “traditional” professional avenues… I write a ton but never finish anything. Very much looking forward to your piece on how to organize phone notes to improve the likelihood of turning them into something. Thank you!
Very interested in your ADD writing tips!
Adding my voice to the requests for ADHD writing tips! I've tried a lot of things (except, you know, sitting down and writing the damn thing)
I spent my children’s childhoods waiting for the right time to write. They are grown now and I have had to face the fact that not writing is a choice I have made for a lot of complicated reasons.
Thank you so much for this post. It could not come at a better time. And another vote for writing tips for the ADD/ADHD brain. Really appreciate your work.
Giving myself deadlines has been a huge part of not just getting writing done but developing the confidence that I can organize myself to actually finish things. I started a weekly Medium column in July of 2020. No one but my friends and family were reading it, but I set a publication schedule anyway. And I was faithful. It came out Wednesday at noon for 52 weeks in a row, which I was super, super proud of. In January 2021 I started my own Substack and told myself that since I was publishing on Medium on Wednesdays that I would publish on Substack on Mondays and Fridays. Writing something new three days a week was, at times, a grind, but I did it. Once I retired the Medium column and was only publishing on Substack Monday and Fridays it felt like a vacation! But I still did it, without fail, on time, every single week.
When I was working more than full-time for other people one of my central fears was that if I had time to write I wouldn't actually do it. That all my grand talk about writing was just that, talk. But then I got laid off at the start of the pandemic and (after three months of getting four kids through virtual school and wondering what the hell was happening) managed to reclaim my brain. And then I started writing, or doing writing adjacent things as you so aptly name them, nearly every single day. I created the structure, the obligations, the deadlines, and I followed through. It's been a huge confidence builder.
Oh girl, #2 describes me to a tee. I also tend to put off the things that I don't want to do every day at work instead of doing those things first, so I can get it out of the way. Great ideas, thanks.
You just made me laugh, and I didn’t know how much I needed that like I need a Pizza Hut/TacoBell combo run. Thanks:)
Adding yet another vote for ADD tips.
You've been an inspiration to me as I grope my way toward becoming a writer (that still sounds weird to say publicly) and now, you write this post and to quote another commenter downthread, I feel both called out and seen at the same time. Thanks.