As an ADHD writing coach, I know better than most how many ADHD writers struggle with the thing they love doing most: writing. If this is you, I promise, you are absolutely not alone. And all writers I work with, no matter what kind of project they’re working on, struggle with the same writing challenges. So if you’ve ever wondered: “Why is it so hard to write when you have ADHD?” Well, I have an answer for you. I have five answers, in fact.
So without further ado, let’s get to it! Here are five reasons why it’s hard to write with ADHD.
1. You are a divergent thinker
If there is one thing I’ve learned in working with ADHD writers, it’s that their brains work a little bit differently. And the most important way in which we are different is that we are divergent thinkers, or, in other words, we think two-dimensionally.
One- versus two-dimensional thinking
Whilst most people think in a straight line (from point A to B to C, etc.), we don’t. Instead, we think two-dimensionally. We start with point A, but then we see the connections to points B, C and D. From there, we branch outward, with a new insight about point B, then D, then maybe B again…. We think more in the shape of a two-dimensional map than a one-dimensional line. And that’s amazing! Our ability to connect any idea to a thousand others makes us incredibly creative. However, it is one of the things that makes writing with ADHD so hard.
Have you ever noticed how much one-dimensional, linear, language is involved in writing? A line of argumentation, a storyline, the through-line… And even character arcs are just a single straight line from beginning to end!
Why writing is hard with ADHD’s divergent thinking
To write, then, we need to translate our two-dimensional thinking – with all the brilliant connections and nuances – into something stream-lined (see what I did there?). That is frustrating, it can be overwhelming, and it has a tendency to make us feel that what we’ve written does not live up to what we imagined. So we end up getting stuck editing, or throw out version after version with nothing to show for it. That’s how our two-dimensional way of thinking makes writing with ADHD so hard.
But wait, there’s more!
2. You have an interest-based nervous system
The interest-based nervous system
Not only does your brain work in more than one dimension, it also is motivated by different things than a neurotypical brain. Whilst most brains are motivated by importance or priority (importance-based nervous system), psychiatrist William Dodson found that ADHD brains aren’t. Instead, they have an interest-based nervous system. This means that they are motivated by four things:
- Interest / passion
- Novelty
- Challenge
- Urgency / pressure
Why this makes writing hard with ADHD
Now, I hear you asking: “How does this make it hard to write with ADHD? I’m definitely interested in writing, so it shouldn’t be a problem!”
And I completely understand. But the problem is that “interest” is only one of the four. If you’re interested in two projects, but one is new (novelty) and has a deadline coming up (urgency) and your personal writing project is months old and has no deadline, your brain will want to work on the first.
And that’s how, if your writing project isn’t new to you anymore, you will keep abandoning it in favor of the next…. Or you won’t write at all.
If that doesn’t make writing hard when you have ADHD, I don’t know what does. Unless it is reason #3…
3. You have a strong inner rebel
As a person with ADHD, you will have a strongly developed inner rebel. Like I said before in this blog post about the problems with the Pomodoro Technique for ADHD writers, this rebel comes out whenever they feel like something or someone is telling them what to do. Consequently, it is really hard for us to stick to a structure. Still, without structure we don’t get anything done. This is true for structured days and time, but it’s just as true when it comes to outlines.
The Catch-22 of outlines
Because of our divergent thinking, we are capable of seeing connections between loads of concepts and ideas. This is a skill, and makes us highly creative. But it also makes it very hard for us to figure out how to stick to a word limit, or how to write an easily readable text that doesn’t go off on seemingly random tangents. Time and again I’ve worked with writers who wrote without an outline and ended up with 10 times the number of words they required, but without a cohesive text. And that can be incredibly demotivating!
But so can the alternative. When we do outline too much, we tend to trigger our inner rebel. The rebel detests structure, and hates having decisions made for it. If your outline is too restrictive, therefore, you might start feeling resistance towards the project. You might start to hate where your project is going. Or it might become excruciatingly boring to you, because you feel everything is already figured out.
So outlines: can’t live with them, can’t live without them… And that makes writing incredibly hard with ADHD.
4. You try to do too much at once
Some ADHD writers tell me that writing is hard when you have ADHD because it is so overwhelming. And when they tell me that, it’s pretty easy for me to figure out why they struggle: they try to do too much at once.
You see, because of our affected time-sense, it’s hard for us to realize that we can do things in stages. We don’t have a strong grasp of the future, meaning that everything that’s important needs to be done NOW.
And when you are writing, you’re actually doing quite a few things.
- You’re thinking about how to fit everything you’re writing into the bigger picture of the text.
- If you write academic or nonfiction: you’re trying to bring in data and/or other literature, whilst simultaneously analyzing and building your own argument.
- You’re thinking about what you’re writing next, and how to create a bridge to that piece (writing transitions).
- You’re trying to figure out what the best way is to say what you want to say.
- If your ADHD expresses as perfectionism: you’re also trying to say it without making any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Because of ADHD, it’s hard to split these 5 pieces out into different phases. You feel like you have to do everything now, and you have to do it perfectly. And that makes writing with ADHD not only hard, but almost impossible.
5. You've developed a toxic relationship with your work
Nine out of every ten ADHD writers I work with have developed what I call a “toxic relationship” with their writing process. What this means is that when they even think about writing they experience shame, guilt, disappointment, fear… All the negative emotions that make any relationship toxic! This reason why writing is hard with ADHD, for a change, is not caused by any ADHD brain chemistry. Rather, I think it is a socialized response to growing up ADHD in a neurotypical world. We measure ourselves by the wrong standards, and were raised to believe that negative feedback will motivate us to do better.
At this point, I’d like you to scroll back up to the four sources of motivation when you have ADHD. In that list of four, I’d like you to find “negative feedback” or “fear of negative consequences” as a source of motivation.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Nope, it’s not there. It doesn’t motivate us at all. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Why this makes it hard to write with ADHD
As a consequence, we use a lot of negative self-talk to try to get ourselves to do better. Add to this our propensity to experience Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria and perfectionism, and you see how quickly we can start getting into negative spirals that make us feel worse about our abilities, our writing project, and our writing practice as a whole.
But these negative spirals, and negative feedback in general, doesn’t motivate us people with ADHD. In fact, it only makes us more prone to anxiety and stress, making us more likely to make the same mistakes in the future. And if even thinking about writing makes you feel all these negative emotions I described above, it’s a lot more comfortable to escape into things such as procrastination and escapism, pushing writing as far from our minds as we possibly can. Try writing then!
Concluding thoughts on why writing is hard with ADHD
At this point, I’m pretty sure you get the picture. Writing is hard when you have ADHD. Between our divergent thinking, interest-based nervous system, inner rebel that resists structure, overwhelm because of an affected time sense, and the toxic relationships we’ve developed with our work… It’s a wonder ADHD writers write anything at all!
And you know what, I haven’t even scratched the surface. I could easily have come up with five more reasons why it’s so hard to write with ADHD (maybe in a follow-up post).
But for now, I just want you to know three things.
- It’s not your fault.
- With the right tools and support, you can still become an amazing and productive writer!
- You don’t have to do it alone.
If you’re looking for personalized guidance and practical solutions, just use the form below to schedule a free intake meeting with me. Together, let’s make your writing process work for you!
