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How to Actually Write with ADHD

Guest post by Fabled Films Press, 2024 Bronze Sponsor 

I’ve always wanted to be an author, but sometimes my brain just won’t let me write. That’s the problem I encountered when I wrote my debut novel, Hannah Edwards Secrets of Riverway. The internet offers some great writing tips, like breaking ideas into manageable chunks or writing every day. But these tips don’t address the specific problem that I encounter—when I sit down to write, my brain whispers: Ashley, this is boringggggggggg. Why can’t we do it laterrrrrrr? 

Instead of fighting with my brain and trying to make it fit into neurotypical writing rules, I used the following tricks to lean into my ADHD and make writing fun! 

Change the format into something exciting! 

I knew that my book would be a journal: journalling seemed much less intimidating than writing a novel. But sometimes I didn’t want to journal. For example, writing a scene with a conversation could feel boring. I’d say: Okay, brain, we don’t have to write a conversation. Let’s just pretend that you are there, using an audio recording to transcribe the events as they happen!  

Or let’s say I needed to record important facts, but I didn’t want Hannah Edwards to say them out loud (because who does that?). Well, I’d skip the filler and just write a list! 

Or, my personal favorite—when I had to write a chapter about a hero on a sleuthing mission, my brain was just telling me: Ashley, what kid would find this cool? So I imagined I was writing a poem about an epic hero, and the poem became an entire chapter in rhyme! 

Use the tool that your brain wants to use! 

Another tip is to use a new tool that your brain does like. For whatever reason, my brain hates the computer. 

If sitting still in front of the computer was the problem, then I’d walk around and record myself saying the story out loud. Then I could transcribe the chapters and, voila! 

Or if the computer felt too artificial for a journal, I’d write chapters out by hand, which somehow made things feel less complicated. 

And sometimes the computer screen just felt too small for visualizing my ideas! So, I’d use a whiteboard to outline. 

Ignore your inner critic!

Anybody with ADHD knows that your brain can be harsh from time to time. A huge challenge that I had to overcome when writing was learning to ignore the desire to do everything perfectly in one go. 

When writing my second draft, I forced myself to write six pages a day—even if they were bad! And when I came back the next day, the writing was never as awful as I thought. 

Working with a professional editing team also helped me to understand that sometimes you can’t figure out how to fix things by yourself. 

Sometimes my brain would say: This is terrible! But I’d remind myself that, while it may not be perfect, it was done. And being done is the first step to making something great.

These techniques transformed my writing and allowed me to write a novel that not only includes a powerful character with ADHD but also feels a little like ADHD in its format. Changing formats helped me to keep my writing moving, and hopefully this variety will keep readers excited to find out what happens next in Hannah Edwards Secrets of Riverway!  

About the author:

Ashley Hards was declared to be “gifted” at age 8 and was diagnosed with ADHD at age 22. When forced to sit still in class, she found books and writing to be the most engaging subjects, especially Shakespeare. She received both her BA and MA in English Literature from McGill University, where she now teaches writing and continues her research on Shakespeare and ritual. 

Always the adrenaline lover, Ashley enjoys skiing, mountain biking, and opera. (Hey, it’s exciting.) She spent many weekends driving across Alberta and hanging out at a ski hill near Pincher Creek, and the vision for Riverway developed over many dark, stormy nights. Like Hannah, she enjoys journaling. Unlike Hannah, she has not solved any mysteries (yet). This is her debut.