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Apr 2021

I think ADHD is super helpful sometimes in writing! :hype_01: I end up hyperfixating on a character, usually, but it can be really great for background research, too! And keeping track of all the various ideas for the story that are just :sparkles: floating around in my head :sparkles:

Granted, the flip side is that writing sometimes seems like it’s literally the hardest thing in the world, but that’s life :cry_01:

Yes!! Who needs notes when your brain just holds it all :sparkles:

I do feel that. Oof. I just try not to feel guilty about it and hopefully get back into a writing mood :')

I’ve finally come to the conclusion that my writing is very cyclical... and that’s okay. So working with my natural rise and fall of creativity keeps me from burning out as quickly :raised_hands:

I have this series in the works about monk stuff. So, I have to do so much research and my ADD and ADHD doesn't really help

Oof I totally get that. Sometimes ADHD drives you to deep dive for hours but sometimes....it just doesn't wanna do it :tired_face:

But if you need any motivation, little things in your story that are researched takes it to the next level. And sometimes, there are times you can take a creative approach. Don't stress, eventually, you'll find how much works for your story :relieved:

What a mood!! "I just don't wanna do this" is like a cuss word for me cause I know the MOMENT I admit it, there's nothing I can do to convince my brain otherwise :sob:

ugh and instead of writing i'll be scrolling through here and just going "haha, that's cool" or "awww i wish i could draw" . and then wonder why i have no buffer

It's both a blessing and a curse, haha. :cry_02: Focus is SO hard, especially when it comes to like... actually drawing my comic. I lose a few working hours each day because my brain just literally does NOT focus on anything in the mornings, and some days it's like climbing a mountain trying to get anything done at all. Like, I'll sketch for 10 minutes and my attention span will be like "...are we done working, now? GOOD, I wanna watch cute doggos on YouTube."

At least on those days, my wrist doesn't get as sore as it does on the days where my brain goes "So, today you'll be drawing for 8 hours, and you'll forget to eat, forget to stretch, and you'll only notice when you realise it's dark outside, and you can't move your neck anymore."

But it's been an absolute blessing for writing! I have a chaotic method of actually getting stories/comic scripts written, with random snippets of dialogue and plot events scattered all over the timeline waiting for something (me, I guess) to glue them together. But it's my hyperfixation on my characters, my fantasy world, and everything in it, which fuels my creativity. I think ADHD brains tend to be very creative because we get SO BORED otherwise, so we just make stuff up to entertain ourselves with. Gotta squeeze some of that precious dopamine out of somewhere, right?

I dig deep into my characters when I fixate on them. All of my stories are borne of me exploring characters, and particularly ships! My current comic, despite being a sci-fi/fantasy/action story, sprang up because I was 'test-running' a new romantic pairing. The more I played with it, the more it worked really well, so one night I decided to figure out how they met - and all of a sudden I had a plot, several pages of script, a vague outline for future chapters, and a hook into my eventual BIG comic project. The vast majority of the script for 'Blue Star Rebellion: Chapter 1', which I'm about 25% of the way through drawing so far, is from one weekend of writing. When I hyperfixate, I can really hyperfixate!

I'm so excited that ADHD is finally being explored far more among the neurodiverse communities online, because we really do work so differently to neurotypical folks, and I'd love to know more about how that impacts the creative process for artists and writers.

the only time i can focus for that long is when I'm playing Fortnite/Minecraft T_T . Literally anything else, I'll pay attention to 20 - 30 minutes at the most before I get sidetracked.

Video games are super easy for anyone to get lost in, but even more so for ADHD brains! Especially creative ones. I've lost count of the amount of times I've tried to play Fallout 4, only to wind up sidetracked building settlements, and never actually finishing the plot. Or how many times I've played THE SAME character in Skyrim, because I love her, and I'll happily sink hours and hours into experiencing that world with her again.

I've never touched Minecraft. I know exactly what will happen, and I do not have the spare time to let it happen.

The other things which trigger that level of hyperfocus for me are reading (though moreso as a child/teen), drawing, and playing an instrument. Though my favourite video games are almost a guarantee for triggering that state. Those other ones are more like "You can have hyperfocus, Kay, buuuuut only sometimes. Oh, you'd like to know when? Dunno. Entirely unpredictable. Hope you don't have any pressing deadlines!" :hohoho:

RIGHT i always end up procrastinating on anything with a deadline, partly because I get sidetracked, and partly because I think I can finish it at the last minute. it's gonna catch up to me eventually, I know it.

My 'cheat code' for that in uni was to set a 'deadline' one week before the assignment was due, convince myself that THIS IS THE DEADLINE, IT 100% HAS TO BE DONE BY THIS DAY, ON THIS WEEKEND, and I'd still procrastinate terribly and have to write the assignment in like, two days... but then I'd have a leisurely week to edit it.

It sounds insane, but it worked. :sweat_02: