ADHD – My Writing Hero

Do ADHD Meds Make You Less Creative?

Posted on August 21, 2020August 21, 2020 by Cathy Kirch

Disclaimer: This blog post is based on my own experience. Always talk to your doctor before making any changes to your medication, dosage, or treatment plan.

I didn’t want to dull my sparkle.

When my therapist and I first began recognizing my ADHD, I was unsure about medication. I had heard horror stories of people becoming a “zombie” while on meds—as though they were just drifting through life, detached from their own personality, going through the motions—a mere shell of the person they once were.

I didn’t want to lose who I was just to fit into the box of what a “productive member of society” is.

And I wasn’t alone.

The concern that medication will take away the positives of ADHD—creativity, unique perspectives, quick thinking, hyperfocus, intuition—is one shared by many in the ADHD community.

And it makes sense that we’re worried: being highly creative is one of the great ADHD superpowers. It’s just one of the reasons ADHDers make great writers, and we don’t want to give that up.

But the challenges of ADHD—executive dysfunction, working memory challenges, difficulty focusing—can also make writing (and writing consistently) a challenge. For many of us, medication is a treatment option worth looking into.

The decision to go on medication, especially as an adult diagnosed later in life, is a very personal one.

I’m not a licensed psychiatrist. I cannot tell you what to do.

But what I can do is offer up my story so you can glimpse a firsthand experience, separate truth from rumor, and ultimately make the best decisions for you and your brain.

Top 10 Reasons to Write Your Novel Out of Order

Posted on July 17, 2020August 31, 2020 by Cathy Kirch

Great novels feel seamless.

The plot is tight, the conflict compelling and believable, the characters jump off the page. Every detail feels organic, as though it couldn’t have been written in any other way than what we’re reading.

This impression, however, can be a little misleading.

When we flip through published novels on bookstore shelves, it’s all too easy to imagine that the writer simply sat down and churned out the book from beginning to end.

**But this is actually not how most authors work.**

Research comparing processes of novice and advanced writers finds that experienced writers tend to work on whatever is easiest for them at the moment, rather than forcing themselves to work in a specific order.

Many writers I’ve worked with who write out of sequence (especially those of us with ADHD) view their nonlinear approach as a sign of their own incompetence—when in actuality it’s a sign that they’re relatively advanced in their process.

So here’s the good news: Just because our readers will read the story linearly, from page one to The End, doesn’t mean we have to write it that way—it doesn’t mean our process has to be linear.

Writing out of sequence can be incredibly freeing, and there are a lot of advantages to this approach.

Here are my top ten reasons to write your novel out of order:

How to Set Up an ADHD-friendly Writing Schedule

Posted on July 3, 2020September 16, 2020 by Cathy Kirch

“Just sit down and write.”

“It’s not about having time, it’s about making time.”

“If you really cared about writing, you’d do it.”

The problem with most writing advice is that it assumes what works for neurotypical writers will work for all writers.

But for writers with ADHD, these refrains only serve to make us feel worse.

Wanting to write but, inexplicably, not being able to, is like being trapped in a glass box where you can see the other side—can see other people doing it—but everywhere you turn you’re bumping into an invisible obstacle.

Once I started working with more writers like me—writers with ADHD—I began to realize that these invisible obstacles weren’t laziness or procrastination or lack of motivation.

They were part of the ADHD experience that most writers (and most writing coaches) don’t understand.

What follows are strategies I’ve used to help both myself and other ADHD writers make more consistent progress on a regular basis. Here are some simple steps you can take to create a writing schedule that works with your ADHD—instead of against it.

Top 10 Reasons People with ADHD Make Great Writers

Posted on June 5, 2020September 25, 2020 by Cathy Kirch

Calling all ADHD writers! It’s time to unlock the writing practice that works with your brain. The ADHD Writers Workshop is a never-before-offered free live event starting Monday, September 28th, 2020. Join the free event here.

Before I realized I had ADHD, I thought this was how everyone functioned.

I thought everyone misplaced their wallet multiple times a day, only to find it in the fridge (!) hours later. I thought everyone forgot what they were saying while they were saying it—not just once in a while, but constantly. I thought that my struggle to get out of bed in the morning was just personal laziness, lack of motivation, and a complete moral failing on my part.

Since I began treatment earlier this year, I realized something that seems obvious now: No, not everyone struggles like us.

But you know what?

Not everyone has our superpowers, either.

While it is true that ADHD creates a lot of obstacles other writers may not have to face with the same severity, I know from personal experience (and ongoing research) that ADHD also offers certain advantages when it comes to writing and creativity.

As a professor and writing consultant, I’ve worked with many ADHD writers, and let me tell you: we’re a pretty awesome bunch.

Here are my top ten reasons people with ADHD make great writers!

How To Turn Distraction Into Your Best Writing Session Ever

Posted on September 27, 2018August 31, 2020 by Cathy Kirch

I am a writer.

I also have ADD.

But I suspect this experience is not entirely unfamiliar to other writers:

I’m working on a story, and then—BAM—I’m hit with a brilliant idea for another project, or a scene for later on in the piece, or a detail I want to make sure to include somewhere, etc.

The problem?

I either get so absorbed in the new idea that I completely lose focus on what I was working on, or I tell myself I’ll remember the new idea (but never, ever do).

Worse still, I sometimes try to maintain focus on both at the same time, trying to remember the new idea while still working on the original piece, rendering both efforts frustratingly inaccessible and mediocre.

My hands already cramp up trying to keep up with the speed of my thoughts; now I’m trying to hold onto an idea (or more than one!) while also pursuing a separate thread of attention. It’s simply not possible.

Writing on its own is hard enough—and research reflects this.

Continue reading How To Turn Distraction Into Your Best Writing Session Ever