Your video just popped up on my feed and I am actually so glad because I relate so much to you! I have written and self-published a self-help workbook for anxiety, which was in 2020 and took me two years to write and design. I went through such similar challenges! Last year at age 33 I was diagnosed with ASD Level 2 and ADHD inattentive type. I was surprised by the ADHD diagnosis too, but it makes so much sense now. I am also a trauma survivor so we have that in common also, everything you are saying I am like 'YES I GET IT'. I actually feel I need to re-write my book having learnt so much about how my brain works and my anxiety advice in my book, as I realise a lot of what I thought were panic attacks have actually been meltdowns due to my sensory issues! I'd love to include a chapter about managing anxiety as a neurodivergent person as I do more research. My biggest struggle is promoting and selling my book too. I have only given some away for free to friends in need of anxiety help and if I was rich I would just buy more and give them out. I am certainly not a salesperson and often freeze up in person. I am great at writing things down because I can come back to it later... but put me in front of people and I am a mess (no matter how many times I've rehearsed in my head).
How do you manage to finish your novels?? I have ADHD inattentive and strong autism features, comorbid with bipolar, eating disorder and social anxiety. I used to love writing, I'm very talented and my creative writing teachers told me I had publish quality. Now I can't finish any of my novels, I start writing a new one before the last one is done. I'm too creative for my own best and it's impossible to finish anything. I suffer A LOT with my mental health, it has impacted me every single second the last 20-25 years (I'm 36). It's difficult to write and pay attention to a fictive world when you're depressed, when you're exhausted, when you have household chores, when you need to shower etc. I struggle so much with my health and low energy that I have nothing left for writing. I also have suicidal ideation about it, thinking my life isn't worth living if I don't publish a book and that I should off myself then. So now writing is associated with only negative emotions like failure, depression and death. How do I manage to overcome this mess?? I am thinking about self publishing, because then I have control over the process and I decide WHEN, not IF, I shall publish a book. I also have very little people around me, so it's not gonna get read by a lot of people, but I'm thinking maybe something is better than nothing. How do you manage to stay interested in the same idea long enough to finish a book?
For me, the book typically either becomes a hyperfocus, or it is inspired by one of my special interests, so it's something I keep coming back to over and over again. I also might write down ideas, but I don't start writing or outlining until I have a good chunk of the story and characters mapped out in my head. I know that probably isn't helpful, since we can't really control our hyperfocus or special interest topics.😅 The way you feel about writing is how I feel about art after art school. Sitting down with a sketchbook gives me panic attacks now. I can doodle but I can't draw. All I can say is to make sure you have a good therapist who can work with neurodivergence, and take small steps. Maybe an outline--however rough--will help. Maybe immersing yourself in media like what you are trying to write. In my case, I was studying abroad with limited internet, no TV, no radio, and only a few English language books, so there was a certain amount of sensory deprivation that went into it (also avoiding a master's thesis...) but once I did it the first time it was much easier to do it a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. Each book is it's own struggle though.❤
Your video just popped up on my feed and I am actually so glad because I relate so much to you! I have written and self-published a self-help workbook for anxiety, which was in 2020 and took me two years to write and design. I went through such similar challenges!
Last year at age 33 I was diagnosed with ASD Level 2 and ADHD inattentive type. I was surprised by the ADHD diagnosis too, but it makes so much sense now. I am also a trauma survivor so we have that in common also, everything you are saying I am like 'YES I GET IT'.
I actually feel I need to re-write my book having learnt so much about how my brain works and my anxiety advice in my book, as I realise a lot of what I thought were panic attacks have actually been meltdowns due to my sensory issues! I'd love to include a chapter about managing anxiety as a neurodivergent person as I do more research.
My biggest struggle is promoting and selling my book too. I have only given some away for free to friends in need of anxiety help and if I was rich I would just buy more and give them out. I am certainly not a salesperson and often freeze up in person. I am great at writing things down because I can come back to it later... but put me in front of people and I am a mess (no matter how many times I've rehearsed in my head).
How do you manage to finish your novels?? I have ADHD inattentive and strong autism features, comorbid with bipolar, eating disorder and social anxiety. I used to love writing, I'm very talented and my creative writing teachers told me I had publish quality. Now I can't finish any of my novels, I start writing a new one before the last one is done. I'm too creative for my own best and it's impossible to finish anything. I suffer A LOT with my mental health, it has impacted me every single second the last 20-25 years (I'm 36). It's difficult to write and pay attention to a fictive world when you're depressed, when you're exhausted, when you have household chores, when you need to shower etc. I struggle so much with my health and low energy that I have nothing left for writing. I also have suicidal ideation about it, thinking my life isn't worth living if I don't publish a book and that I should off myself then. So now writing is associated with only negative emotions like failure, depression and death. How do I manage to overcome this mess?? I am thinking about self publishing, because then I have control over the process and I decide WHEN, not IF, I shall publish a book. I also have very little people around me, so it's not gonna get read by a lot of people, but I'm thinking maybe something is better than nothing.
How do you manage to stay interested in the same idea long enough to finish a book?
For me, the book typically either becomes a hyperfocus, or it is inspired by one of my special interests, so it's something I keep coming back to over and over again. I also might write down ideas, but I don't start writing or outlining until I have a good chunk of the story and characters mapped out in my head. I know that probably isn't helpful, since we can't really control our hyperfocus or special interest topics.😅
The way you feel about writing is how I feel about art after art school. Sitting down with a sketchbook gives me panic attacks now. I can doodle but I can't draw. All I can say is to make sure you have a good therapist who can work with neurodivergence, and take small steps. Maybe an outline--however rough--will help. Maybe immersing yourself in media like what you are trying to write. In my case, I was studying abroad with limited internet, no TV, no radio, and only a few English language books, so there was a certain amount of sensory deprivation that went into it (also avoiding a master's thesis...) but once I did it the first time it was much easier to do it a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. Each book is it's own struggle though.❤