Writing with ADHD
and other news from Duskbound Books
Writing with ADHD
by Aly Welch
When I was assigned an article about writing with ADHD, my first thought was no two people with ADHD are alike. My second thought is no two people are alike, period. I think that's the most important thing to remember when giving OR receiving advice. What works for one person may not work for another based on their individual neurology, especially something as cerebral and personal as writing.
For example, a common piece of writing advice is “Do not edit as you go. Just get the words out.”
Sounds reasonable enough, especially if you’re a perfectionist. Many people with ADHD develop perfectionism as a maladaptive coping mechanism. Studies have shown we receive significantly more criticism than people without ADHD so we often try to anticipate it and/or overcompensate. I’ve learned to accept I can either be perfect or I can be done—but I still have to edit as I go because I often think something, then forget to type it. If I go too long without rereading, I may not remember what word or phrase I meant to use. I always start each writing session re-reading the previous day’s work to maintain tone and to catch any omissions. Sometimes I notice something doesn’t make sense, and I fix it. Other times I have a burst of inspiration and recognize an opportunity to add or embellish something. What I don’t do is overedit.
Am I happily plucking away?
Great.
Am I clenching my jaw or pulling my hair out?
Time to move on.
Truthfully, sometimes I’m so damn entertained by myself, I forget that I’m supposed to be writing and not reading until I run out of words to enjoy.
Another rather shocking bit of advice I’ve seen is “throw out your first draft and rewrite from memory because the stuff worth keeping will come back to you.” As soon as I heard it, I was eight years old again desperate to tell an adult something only for my mind to go blank. And then the adult would dismiss my frustration, saying—and I bet some of you have heard this, and died a little inside yourselves—“if it was important, you wouldn’t have forgotten.”
People forget important things all the time. One of my biggest regrets is impulsively deleting early drafts of a novel, if only because there were some great lines or scenes I could have repurposed elsewhere. I’ve tried, but I doubt I wrote them as well the second time. Even now I look back at things I’ve written, especially the work I’m most proud of, and I wonder where this line or that character’s voice came from.
There’s a magic and an energy in my writing process that can’t be reliably reproduced.
My advice?
Take advice with a grain of salt.
I doubt Stephen King really thinks the road to hell is paved with adverbs, but a stronger verb often conveys your message better. And if you’re stuck, try something different. When you figure out what works for you, it’s okay if your method looks different from someone else’s. Maybe you can’t imagine how anyone sits down to write without a formal outline first. Or maybe you’ve imagined a complete story so many times, you’re ready to get it on paper. Maybe your characters live rent free in your brain so you can eschew character maps (and may as well ditch the outlines, too). Maybe you don’t have the strongest mind’s eye so you need a storyboard to help you visualize. Whatever it takes to write your story.
You can explain the madness to your method later. Give people something to read first.
Aly Welch is the author of A BETTER ME, DRAMA QUEEN, A GIRL NEXT DOOR, and a collection of stories called SILLY LITTLE MONSTERS.
Passageways: Nefarious will open for submissions January 31st.
Submission Window: January 31, 2025
Genre: Crime Fiction. We are seeking literary partners in fictional crime for our next anthology, Passageways: Nefarious. From action packed heists to suspenseful whodunits, we want stories that explore the criminal element. Not your usual genre? No worries. As long as crime provides the bones of your story, we don't care if its wrapped in a noir, horror, mystery, fantasy, or sci-fi skin.
Title: Passageways: Nefarious
Wordcount: 7,000 MAX
Firmly enforced.
Formatting: Word or Google Doc. Double-spaced. Include your story title, pen name, story elevator pitch, word count, and email at the beginning of the document.
Available Story Slots: 25 stories will be included in the anthology.
Submission Cap: 50 entrants
Once 50 entries have been received, the submission window will close.
Number of submissions per person: 1 story
Story must not have been previously published.
Submission Fee: Free
Royalties/Compensation: All profits generated will be donated to The Little Free Library charity. Upon request, we provide quarterly sales statements to show how many books we've sold and how much will be donated.
Rights: Participants keep the rights to their work. After a period of 1-year from the publication date, entrants may publish their short stories with other outlets.