ADHD Writers Q&R with Rachelle Ramirez
ADHD can make the usual writing advice feel like fingernails on a chalkboard. In this session, book coach and developmental editor Rachelle Ramirez addresses questions about writing with an ADHD brain. Her main point is that ADHD writers usually don’t lack motivation. What’s hard is getting started. She offers four levers for getting into the work: interest, challenge, novelty, and urgency.
Timestamps
0:00 Welcome
0:55 What ADHD looks like, and whether a diagnosis matters
4:03 It’s not a motivation problem, it’s a starting problem
8:57 The four levers: interest, challenge, novelty, and urgency
15:00 Getting started again after a diagnosis
17:37 Hyperfocus, losing track of time, and “landing rituals”
22:35 Working on more than one project: primary and secondary
28:42 Keeping discovery alive while plotting structure
35:27 When life keeps interrupting: systems that cut down on decisions
44:40 When standard advice doesn’t fit: try it, modify it, or do the opposite
52:44 Stuck on where the story goes, plus the “success log”
58:14 Finding or starting the right writing group
1:02:05 Low time and energy, and learning to say no
1:05:56 Guilt and grief after a late diagnosis
1:18:38 Imposter syndrome
1:22:37 Coming back to writing after burnout
1:25:29 Closing comments