IDEA-ZAPPING
Maria Joannou offers strategies for going with your flow and coping with distractions that have helped her as a writer with ADHD
Maria Joannou
Iagonised over how to start this article, and in the end, after much procrastination and indecision and many false starts, I started in the middle, wrote bits and pieces as they occurred to me, and these thoughts – which I’m writing now – popped into my head while working on something else. Naturally I stopped what I was doing to write this down.
If this all sounds disorganised, it is. But that’s the only way I can write, and sometimes finish, projects I start.
Finishing might not sound like a big deal to writers who can organise themselves, and stick to daily writing goals, but it is for me.
I have unmedicated combinedtype ADHD, and only got on the path to diagnosis aged 41. Finding out I had ADHD was a revelation I found heartening (because it explained everything) and depressing (because I’d struggled my whole life). I’d assumed my struggles were because of character flaws.
ADHD explains my countless creative ideas and unfinished stories, my disorganisation, my world-class procrastination. The number of miserable all-nighters I’ve pulled to hit a deadline probably number in the thousands. Every time I swear to myself, never again. Except… well, you can guess. My family knows that if I do my tax return early, they should flee for their lives, because it’s an Invasion of the Body Snatchers situation.
For those diagnosed later in life, or suspect undiagnosed ADHD, writing can be frustrating when most advice is aimed at neurotypical adults.
Lisez l'article complet et bien d'autres dans ce numéro de
Writing Magazine
Options d'achat ci-dessous
Si le problème vous appartient,
Connexion
pour lire l'article complet maintenant.
Numéro unique numérique
October 2022
Ce numéro et d'autres anciens numéros ne sont pas inclus dans une nouvelle version de l'article
abonnement. Les abonnements comprennent le dernier numéro régulier et les nouveaux numéros publiés pendant votre abonnement.
Writing Magazine
Abonnement numérique annuel
€69,99
facturé annuellement
Abonnement numérique de 6 mois
€35,99
facturé deux fois par an