Most writers I work with have what I call a “project junkyard” full of unfinished and abandoned writing projects. This junkyard makes them feel embarrassed, and they carry a lot of guilt around. In fact, we have a tendency to make the things we didn’t finish part of our self-image a lot more than the things we did complete. No wonder so many of us end up believing that people with ADHD never finish anything.
In this post, I’ll explain the three main reasons it looks like writers with ADHD never finish anything, and what helps you get back to the projects in your junkyard.
1. Things that aren't new seem boring
For a lot of ADHD brains, novelty is a great motivator. That means that we often want to work on something new a lot more than we want to work on the same old project we’ve been working on for months. This is absolutely fine if you need to quickly finish an article before the deadline. But when we’re talking about big, sprawling personal projects like books, it really does look like writers with ADHD can’t finish stuff.
When you first have an idea for a book, you’ll be super excited and motivated. But after a few weeks (for me, it’s usually 2), the novelty wears off and the project just isn’t that shiny anymore. Luckily, our brains are very good at coming up with brand new ideas for projects! And as many of us struggle with impulse control and getting a clear sense of the future and its consequences, it’s incredibly hard to suppress the impulse to start a new project and stick to the old one instead.
2. We get overwhelmed by perfectionism
If you have an ADHD brain and you haven’t heard of Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD), go look it up right now. A lot of ADHD adults recognise themselves in it. RSD means we’re more sensitive to what we experience to be rejection than most, letting it affect, again, our self-esteem and self-image. Now, everyone would agree that rejection sucks. But we also have a tendency to see rejection where it was never intended as such, for example in one piece of constructive feedback in a sea of compliments.
The problem is that when you’re writing for an audience, you’re always going to be dealing with negative feedback. Which is why so many ADHD writers end up walking around with a deep sense of unhappiness because they feel they were rejected. These feelings can become overwhelming and bleed into all aspects of our lives. Now it’s no longer that someone didn’t like one aspect of our work; this has become proof that we are terrible writers and should never write another word. And that’s how our challenges with RSD and emotional regulation can make it feel like writers with ADHD can’t finish anything.
3. We have a hard time managing feelings such as rejection
If you have an ADHD brain and you haven’t heard of Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD), go look it up right now. Up to 99% of us ADHDers struggle with this! RSD means we’re more sensitive to what we experience to be rejection than most, letting it affect, again, our self-esteem and self-image. Now, everyone would agree that rejection sucks. But we also have a tendency to see rejection where it was never intended as such, for example in one piece of constructive feedback in a sea of compliments.
The problem is that when you’re writing for an audience, you’re always going to be dealing with negative feedback. Which is exactly why ADHD writers are constantly walking around with a deep sense of unhappiness because they feel they were rejected. These feelings can become overwhelming and bleed into all aspects of our lives. Now it’s no longer that someone didn’t like one aspect of our work; this has become proof that we are terrible writers and should never write another word. And that’s how our challenges with RSD and emotional regulation can make it feel like writers with ADHD can’t finish anything.
Is never finishing anything an ADHD thing?
I’ve been saying throughout this post that it SEEMS like writers with ADHD can’t finish anything. But honestly: that’s not true!
Though our brains might be predisposed to abandon projects, and our challenges can make it seem like people with ADHD can’t finish anything, this is simply untrue. Your brain also keeps a very selective score. If three of your projects are unfinished and six are finished, it only counts the three.
As an ADHD writing coach, I’ve seen hundreds of ADHDers complete their writing projects. To a certain extent, we need to override our ADHD instincts and years of habits, so it might take a while. But with the right support, tools and strategies, you can start finishing projects too!
What helps ADHD writers finish
Before you can finish a project, you have to be able to open it. And for a lot of the writers I work with, that’s exactly where it breaks down. The longer you’ve been away from a piece of writing, the more it stops being a document.
It becomes a magnet, and everything gets stuck to it. Your fear that you’re not a good writer – stuck to it. The idea that what’s in there is terrible – stuck to it. Your guilt over not having touched it in months – stuck to it.
So when you think about opening that file, you’re thinking about opening a box with all the worst things you believe about yourself. No wonder something in you flinches. One of my clients put it like this: “Maybe there’s a little part of me that feels hopeless, like, what’s the point? I’m not going to finish anything I do.”
Here’s what I want you to remember: the document in your head and the document on the page are not the same size. The one in your head has been growing all this time. The one on the page is exactly as big as it was when you left it. Not one word worse. Not one problem bigger.
Underneath the avoidance, there’s usually one fear: if I open it now and it’s bad, it proves everything I’ve been afraid of about myself. So you stay away to protect yourself. The trouble is, staying away is exactly what makes the magnet stronger.
Shrink your project back to its real size
The way back is to get close to your project again without asking anything of it. My favourite way to do that is the sofa read.
Print your project. Actually print it, on paper. Then make yourself as comfortable as possible (for me, there’s always a blanket or a pet involved), grab your favourite drink and read. You’re not allowed to correct anything. While you read, keep two lists:
- What needs to happen: the gaps, the edits, the place where you left off.
- What you actually like about it.
That second list is the important one. I promise you, the document on the page is better than the document in your head. The magnet has been lying to you about it, and the sofa read is how you find that out for yourself. As a bonus, your first list is waiting for you the next time you sit down, so you already know your next small step.
Find your way back to the page
The magnet is where I start in Back to the Page, my masterclass for writers who’ve drifted away from a project and want to find their way back without the shame or a heroic eight-hour comeback session. It also walks you through what to do when even the sofa read feels like too big a step, and how to build momentum one small win at a time.
Learn more & grab your ticket →
