"Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable." - Francis Bacon
Who else has the problem of too many documents open and being unable to settle on a story to work on? I constantly have multiple Word documents open, each a different story begging for attention. My biggest problem? Ideas get jumbled together into the giant spaghetti bowl I call my brain. It's hard sorting out heads or tails half the time. Should this idea go here or in that story? But it doesn't flow. Should I write up to the scene or write the scene now and put it elsewhere?
Gah!
I thought I solved my problem by keeping a notebook with me at all, er, most times. I would jot down the idea, at the top of the page write which story I think it should be paired with, then leave it for another day when I'm able to get my thoughts together and have time to write. This has worked for me for the past couple of years, but I've noticed lately that my writer's a.d.d. has come back with vengeance. Focusing is hard.
What's writer a.d.d.?
Oh, right. I should probably explain this. It's a term that I made up. I don't even know if I'm the only one who uses it or if someone coined it before me but it definitely helps me recognize what's happening in my head. My definition of writer a.d.d. is twofold.
- An over stimulation of the mind (due to music, television, books, media, etc.) that leads to where the writer is unable to focus on one project, but rather the high number of ideas forming, causing the writer to jump between a minimum of two stories.
- An unexpected burst of inspiration that short-circuits the writer placing them into a state of writer's block to which they end up finding everything, but their own work, suddenly incredibly interesting.
Basically, working on multiple projects at the same time.
Questionable and I seriously doubt it is a medical condition. Just an attention issue. For fun, I tried looking it up, but all I found were articles about writers with a.d.d. such as this article. Another interesting article I found, written by a.d.d. writer Kristen Lamb, includes a list of ways for a.d.d. writers to be productive. Honestly, most of the stuff on that list I already do which makes me wonder.... Now, I'm not diagnosed with a.d.d. and never have been so I cannot compare this to attention deficit disorder and I won't. But I will share the list to save you a click:
- Make lists.
- Understand that feelings are pathological liars.
- Use The Force... of Self-Discipline.
- Mix it up.
- Suck it up.
- Make mean writer friends.
- Ditch loser friends.
- Forget perfection.
- Exercise.
- Drink lots of water.
Then why do you call it "writer's a.d.d."?
Because it is an attention issue for writers. It is difficult to focus on one story at a time so you bounce around. I'll scribble notes in my Word documents, then jump somewhere else and write, lather, rinse, repeat, oh kitty, rinse, lather, repeat. Sometimes this will go on for a few days with me and I'll make incredible progress. Then bam! Writer's block. My brain shuts down and I begin procrastinating. Before that point though, I usually have Word working overdrive while I'm rereading and editing and writing and daydreaming and making tea and scrolling through Facebook. Sometimes it is the best thing that can happen to my writing. I'll get so much done that it surprises me. Other days, not so much. I'll miss the mark so bad that my cat is disappointed. Seriously, have you seen Jaggi irritated? Not being her napping spot is a big no-no. (I'll share a picture of my animals someday.)
After the bouncing around, however, I'll snag an idea and run for the hills. That idea builds, my story takes shape, and, next thing I know, there's another fifteen pages written. Half the time, I have no idea how I suddenly became productive. I'll spend a few days glaring at anyone who tries to pull me away from my computer while others I'll glare at my computer for refusing to give me the next scene.
Is it a good or a bad thing?
It definitely keeps the mind active. There's always something going on and when there's nothing, it's either a sweet vacation or torture. Plus, it is hilarious what I zone out becoming lost in thought. Best story I have of this was when I was at a bar with a friend. I ended up thinking about something, I can't remember what it was, and then I snap back to reality because of my friend's laughter. Apparently, I was staring at a girl's butt. She had a whale-tail going on and thanks to my staring, she fixed it. But the guy who was hitting on her didn't appreciate that, so he threw a dirty look at whoever it was that encouraged her to fix her pants. He sees me, another girl, then he looks at my friend, a guy, gives him an appreciative nod and goes back to the girl. Enter my friend's laughter and me gaining a new story. My only conclusion was that he thought I was checking her out. I'll let him enjoy that fantasy since I was probably daydreaming about talking squirrels. (If you ever saw the terrible writing I had from back then, which I will forever keep hidden, the squirrel would make sense to you.)
The worst part about writer a.d.d. is that I'll lose track of a conversation and have to pretend I know what we're talking about or ask them to repeat what they said. Or when I open a story and I forgot where I was going with it, which means a couple hours of rereading that I actually don't really mind as much. It just takes up time. Then my computer hates me because of all the Word documents open. I think it shut off randomly just so it could have a break. (My lovely husband fixed that problem, woohoo!)
So, I'm not sure if writer's a.d.d. is a good thing. Personally, I'll be doing fine writing then I'll get a little bit of writer's block so I move to another story and keep working. Then I hit writer's block again then move to another story, again. Then I'll end up bouncing between all these stories. Writer's a.d.d. hits. So much to do! Where do I go? What should I write? Keep going until the little bricks becomes a giant wall.Writer's block in full force and I'm stuck for weeks. Randomly writer's a.d.d. returns and I am burning up my keyboard again. It is a vicious cycle really. Tiring too. I'm convinced my tendonitis was caused by my late night writing fits.
I try to embrace my writer's a.d.d. and manipulate it to the beat of my rock music. While it does scare me at times, I just have to remind myself that it is just an issue with attention and sitting down to focus on your work. In the end though, writer's a.d.d. is both good and bad. It's all about how you control it and play the game. Progress with your own writing has potential to skyrocket when you manage to grab ahold of a few strings and tie together those ideas.
By The Way!!
If you'd like a perfect example of writer's a.d.d., it took me over two months to write this post. Too many things to focus on! Then throw in random problems and you have a recipe for disaster.
If you'd like a perfect example of writer's a.d.d., it took me over two months to write this post. Too many things to focus on! Then throw in random problems and you have a recipe for disaster.
