I have been trying to get into writing short stories as a hobby. I have a couple of good ideas. But I tend to struggle when actually putting my thoughts to words.
Some issues I struggle with are as follows:
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Inability to settle on the right words: I’ll write something and think that what I wrote could be written better or differently and then I keep on writing and deleting and rephrasing with different words. Thus making very slow progress.
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Problems with continuity: I might think up a somewhat long plot line. But I have to write the whole thing in one go because if I don’t then my brain will splinter the story into multiple possible story branches when I stop and I am unable to choose the path to follow.
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Lose interest in continuing if I take a break: If I stop writing mid way and take a break from writing for an extended period of time, I am unable to find the motivation to resume. Mostly because trying to catchup with the story up to that point feels hard. I have this same tendency with video games as well where I don’t feel like picking up a game after an extended period of absence.
So is anyone here who does writing as either a hobby or professionally? If so how do you cope with your condition?
What I’ve found that works for me is to just make up the story as I go without much planning. The issue with this is approach I’ve found is that it’s hard to find a conclusion to end the story.
You just have to do it. People talk about writer’s block and it’s a real thing. Sometimes you have to force yourself to produce. Will it be good? Maybe, maybe not. But your objective isn’t to write good, that’s what editing is for. No matter how good you think it is, your writing isn’t good until you edit it. And nobody talks about editor’s block.
Not helpful, and really just rudely dismissive of the issues faced by OP and others with adhd.
I work with many writers who have ADHD. Editing is central to the writing process.