Screenwriting : The Struggle by James Oden

Nothing to help with...you're just acting human :)

Hi James,

A GOAL without a PLAN, is just a DREAM.

If you want to write (not just actually typing, the full process of story and character creation, outlining etc), you need to structure your day and week. If you can only commit to 30 minutes, or 1 hour, pencil that in to your diary and commit to it.

Sometimes my way out of that writing funk is to 1) turn on some energetic music or 2) start writing something new. Just anything. Just to get those juices flowing. Freeform random thoughts onto the page. Then, when you feel like your reset button has been pushed, jump back into the real project you're working on. Hope this helps.

ADD -- I'm off the charts even when medicated. Instead of sitting down to type, try writing five- to ten-page sequences, or even short scenes, in your head while doing other things. Work out the permutations. I do it visually. When I'm comfortable with what I've got, I sit and type what I see onto the page. You don't need much to make a kernel that you can obsess about for a half hour and you put it on the page, then voila, a few pages done. You know your ADHD better than I do, so make chunks you can handle. Leave the document open on your computer.

That said, I've done very little writing in my life, so caveat lector.

I suffer with ADHD too. I need to write in busy rooms. Coffee shops, bars etc. Ironically, I find it less distracting with more going on around me.

Self discipline.

A scene a day will keep the block away, works for me. I don't try to do too much in a day and I try to keep it bite sized and manageable.

I procrastinated on a rewrite for six months and decided to just let it go, but going back into the special world my script was set in (collecting seaglass on the beach, in this case) I got reinspired when a new line or plot twist popped up in my mind out of nowhere. The subconscious is always at work. I've learned to trust it :^}

Have you thought about a dictation software. It would limit how far you can travel but it would provide some freedom of movement.

Confined yourself in an environment without any distractions and set your mind to it. I do write in an environment surrounded by distractions but i simply set my mind on writing and ignore everything around me.

Write multiple scripts at once. When you get distracted from one, move to the other.

Imho, limit brainstorming dealing with ADHD to people with ADHD or ADHD coaches. Neurotypical strategies have no power in neurodiverse solutions. Twitter has a decent community, tiktok too. Pick yer poison.

J.S. LaVail had a decent tactic... I like using dictation, too. I talk ideas into my Pixel 4XL using Google Keep while I'm hiking.

Focus on your goal. Find a quiet place and avoid ALL distractions. For me, music helps me focus. Try to write a little every day. Stick to your schedule and be disciplined. And since you have ADHD, have you tried medication? It might help... but then again, maybe not.

James, Finish everything you really have to do that day. Find inspiration, and (try to) get in your "Hyper Focus" state of mind.

I battle with depression everyday and sometimes it would get in the way of my writing, but keep writing no matter what. As writers, we get to create and tell stories.

I'll sound like C. Robert Cargill here;

"force and put it down even if it comes like a garbage, and turn the garbage into a great piece when there's some urge..."

It works... I do that all the time.

I focus on just one scene. Who is in the scene and what will happen there? Then I let it sit and marinate in my head for a few days. Sometimes, just a piece of dialog or action comes out. I continue to let it sit in my head. Sometimes, whole scenes seem to write themselves. I keep my phone nearby because the urge to write is often not even at home. Most of my latest script was written in Samsung notes on my phone.