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Cake day: July 18th, 2023

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  • I struggle with editing too much while writing too. Sometimes its not thinking of the right word, searching for it, getting distracted, then spending 30 minutes on Wikipedia. Other times its going back and editing previous paragraphs to make everything flow better. The only way I’ve been able to get around this is by writing long hand. Writing with pen on paper has forced me to get things down. Once I’m done, I’ll type it and do my first round of revisions.

    As for continuity, I’m an avid outliner. I keep a notebook, and if I come up with a plot line, I’ll outline it. Sometimes it distracts from what I’m currently doing, but I don’t think of it as a distraction since I’m still writing. I have multiple, fully-outlined stories that I can pull from if stuck or try to weave into whatever I’m currently working on. When I sit down to write, I know everything that will happen. Writing becomes more about figuring out who the characters are and how they will react to the situation they’re in since the plot is already known to me.

    When you take a break and struggle coming back, don’t try to catch back up. You never will. Instead, just try to move forward, get traction. This is where long hand helps me. There is a disjointedness when I step away for a while and come back. But I allow it and smooth it out in revision.

    I’m not saying it will solve all your problems. This is just what has helped me get over some of the difficult humps while writing while having ADHD.

    Edit: Fixed typo