#adhd writer

Writing characters with ADHD…from someone with ADHD

(part two!)

since my last post with advice for writing adhd seemed to be well received by many, i figured i would do a part two.

again, same disclaimer as last time; these are just my experiences, and do not apply to everyone

• Burnout. While adhd is usually known for its hyperactivity, a side that is rarely shown is the burnout from it. It is tiring.It can befrustrating.There are lots of days where you just want to sit alone in a quiet room.
• People with adhd are usually master procrastinators. Seriously. I often put off tasks until the last possible minute, because my brain doesn’t find it ‘interesting’ enough without the pressure of the deadline.
• Sitting down to do five hours of work and only being able to do five minutes is just as common as sitting down to do five minutes of work and looking up and realizing it’s been five hours
• The ‘hyperactivity’ part of adhd looks different for lots of people. It isn’t necessarily bouncing off the walls, running around the room and disrupting everyone - it could also be fidgeting relatively unobtrusively
• Speech patterns. While adhd often means talking fast, it doesn’t always. For example, I only tend to talk fast when really excited- but I talk a lot. There is a lot of ‘looping back’ on things that have already been said, and lots of ‘hey did i tell you-‘ ‘yes, you did.’
• conversation with adhd has two settings, in my experience; simultaneously having and maintaining four conversations at once, or not being able to hold a conversation if someone else is speaking in the same room
• Distractibility. This is the one im most tired of seeing in media. It is not just “hey so i was talking to Julian the other day about- oh look, SQUIRREL, LETS GO SEE THE SQUIRREL!’ *jets off to go see the rodent*. No. I feel like i speak collectively for adhd people when i say that we of that shit. What it is more like is; “hey so i was talking to Julian the other day- oh remind me to give him his textbook back- and he said that his brother told him- wait no it was his sister, anyway- she told him that…”
• Coffee does not make all of us wildly hyper all the time. One coffee actually helps me focus.
• We are not airheads. Seriously. Quit writing adhd characters as stupid, childish and incapable of doing important things. cut it out.

NOTE: as always, having adhd should not be a characters main personality trait. that is damaging representation, and really frustrating to read. an easy test is to remove the adhd and see if the character is still a fully fleshed out and in depth character. if they aren’t, congrats, you created a character who’s only trait was having adhd. however, if they still are a well rounded and interesting character without the adhd, you’re probably good!

it is day 71 and i am truly starting to believe that he single most difficult part of writing a book is naming it

Writing Characters With ADHD

…From someone with adhd.

I very rarely see books with well written characters with ADHD, and when I do, it’s always represented the same way. It ISN’T, ‘yeah so I was at Jane’s house on- oh, look, a squirrel!’.

Here’s what (in my experience), it IS:

• there’s a common stereotype that people with ADHD talk a lot- but no one ever mentions that we talk fast
• bouncing your leg a lot when seated
• losing your train of thought often, and getting sidetracked trying to find it again.
• forgetting instructions relayed seconds before
• repeating a story without realizing it in conversations (‘did I tell you about..’)
• feeling that ‘tired yet wired’ feeling at the end of a long day
• accidentally talking over people often
• having really poor time management skills. constantly misjudging how much time certain tasks will take. losing track of time often
• Iiking distraction (i.e. usually having an earbud in)
• leaving projects until the last minute and then doing them at the speed of light

NOTE: the absolute worst thing you can do is make having ADHD a characters only trait. They should be a full, interesting character who just happens to have ADHD. Here’s an easy test to see if you’ve done it right: If you ‘take away’ the ADHD and the character has no defining traits? You’ve done it wrong.

Again. This is my experience and therefore may not apply to everyone, but I just thought I’d share in case it helps anyone out!