I am an author and booklover, and I’m AuDHD.
One way this shows up in my writing is that I can sit and write 6,000 words in an afternoon, as I did on Sunday! I found an old manuscript I wrote for the Chapter Book Challenge many years ago. It was very rough and I decided to rewrite it… I did this in an afternoon.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a first draft for a manuscript of a YA novella in a week!
The fastest I’ve ever written and published a book was 10 days.
I also published a book this year that I wrote a first draft of back in 2016, and another one from 2012!
For me, the ADHD part of my brain shows up in a spiky profile. There will be times when I smash the words out, and times when I can’t write much at all. I am not the sort of person who can force myself to sit and write, especially if I’m tired and overwhelmed. Forcing myself makes it feel like a demand.
It’s funny that the Chapter Book Challenge worked for me, but challenges like NaNoWriMo didn’t.
I swore that I wouldn’t publish anything this year, I would take time off… and I’ve published 5 books so far!!
My AuDHD brain doesn’t listen to conventional writing advice such as being consistent and having a routine. It shows up when I least expect it and I’m learning to embrace the chaos and enjoy it.
This doesn’t make me any less of a writer. It makes me me. Stories get finished in their own time, and people seem to enjoy them.
