Author: Elise Carlson (Page 1 of 8)

I think THE most important advice for writers is ‘do what works for you.’ This is ESPECIALLY true for neurodivergent and or chronically ill writers. Standard writing advice is oblivious to the impact of brain fog, and cognitive or sensory overload. It doesn’t understand the need for things to go according to THE PLAN. Or the epic struggle to FOCUS. And in managing all of this, there’s the challenge of balancing the desire to write with the NEED to rest, pace yourself and avoid burnout. In this blog I’ll unpack things I think its important for neurodivergent and chronically ill writers to consider, when setting up a needs fulfilling writing environment and developing writing habits. With some considerations for working with beta readers, editors and writing neurodivergent characters.

Sensory & Cognitive Needs and Writing Routine

Getting Your Environment Ready to Write:
Physically Enabling Set Up

I barely recall the last time I wrote at my desk. Sitting upright, with my feet on the ground, is draining for my Fibro. I only last so long before I need to slump (and a desk chair doesn’t really let me.) So I’m writing this blog while sitting on the couch, where I can easily lean back for posture support, and lean on armrests on both sides when I want to (one folds up when not wanted). And when fatigue kicks in; it reclines so I can put my feet up.

The other advantage of a couch is it doesn’t involve the bad or strained posture of lying in bed. I tried writing in bed with long covid. But my fatigue needed me to lie back, only a little propped up by pillows. Pillow propping was haphazard for my posture. And reaching the keyboard and holding my hands over it to type became a strain, and added to my fatigue.

So the thing that really enables better back support and posture for me is a lap desk. I’m tall, so I need to raise my laptop well above lap level to not get a sore neck. I also like having my ergonomic mouse and keyboard (necessities for my carpel tunnel) on the lap desk, and can even jam a plate for food on there, so I’m good to go!

Enabling Your Body to Write

Depending on your stamina, and bearing in mind what supports good posture; where is it best for you to write? Which chair has the best back support? Do you need armrests? Or to put your feet up? Do your monitor and keyboard sit at a comfortable, good posture height?

Another thing to consider if you struggle with stamina/ fatigue is having things you will need over the next few hours within reach. Eg. a bottle of water/ large glass and a meal/ snacks near to hand. And anything you need to refer to for writing; handwritten notes, maps, diagrams etc.

When I struggle with fatigue, the worst thing is having to get up for something I forgot, because its such a relief to sit and such a strain to get up again. So try and have every physical item you may need within reach before you sit.

Getting Your Environment Ready to Write:
Sensory Needs

Do you focus better with ambient noise like an open window, to hear wind blow through trees and bird calls? How about audio of a thunder storm? If you need more stimulation, do you prefer instrumental music? Enough to get your brain producing dopamine and the creative juices flowing, but no lyrics to distract you? Or do you need noise cancelling headphones to write in silence?

Also consider computer/ desk placement. Should you write facing a blank wall? Will you get distracted sitting opposite or near a window? Or will watching the occasional person walk past keep you entertained for mini mental breaks, on which you may otherwise become side tracked?

Do you prefer a bright ceiling light when writing at night, or the soft glow of a desk lamp? Are you likely to feel otherwise under stimulated while writing or editing? (I just picked up a fidget to keep me sufficiently stimulated and help me stay focused on editing this blog.)

In other words, for audio and visual input; which kinds of sensory information distract or help you focus? Which are comfortable or don’t feel right? Take them all into account when setting up/ tweaking your writing space! And choosing a location. I know some ADHD writers who write better at cafes or in the local library than at their house, where chores and other distractions nag at them.

Getting your Brain Ready to Write: Cognitive Needs & Routine

I can sit down ‘to write’ for three to five hours, even the entire day, and not write. I have ADHD. My brain doesn’t naturally produce enough dopamine, so I struggle to focus. My ‘writing routine’ tends to begin the day before, by going out for the day, or spending too much time on social media, and exercising. All of that ‘gets my fidgets out’ and settles me. Its also best if I read a book or watch a show in my genre, to get my brain in writing mode.

On writing day, I likely mess about on social media for one to three hours. No, its not ‘procrastinating.’ Again, its getting restlessness out, stimulating my brain and getting dopamine going, so I can concentrate. I may also write a newsletter or blog first, to get properly into writing mode, (especially when I haven’t written for weeks, even months, which is often.) Hell, I may go wild and actually take my ADHD meds!

Before you sit down to write, consider; what physical or mental activities get your body settled and brain into ‘the writing zone’? What do you need to do the day before and day of, to help your brain co-operate? When do you need to schedule rest, so you’ve got the physical and mental energy to write?

Minimise Distraction & Cognitive Overload

Household Chores

Before we talk about sitting down to write; what gets in your way cognitively? I struggle to focus if the room is cluttered, and my leather couch or carpet has crumbs on it. I can’t focus on a screen and words when the floor and furniture are screaming at me. It doesn’t work. Related, that washing will stay in the machine overnight, if I don’t hand it out before writing, because I will forget! Or I won’t focus properly on writing because too much of my brain is straining to remember.

So consider; do you need your space tidy and clean before you can focus? Do you find it easier to focus after the chores are done? Or are some physical chores a good break activity when you get restless mid-writing session?

Freeing Up Cognitive Load So You Can Write

The best time for me to work on my novels is after I finish and publish my blog for the month. Every second month, its also after I’ve fully drafted -if not sent out- my author newsletter. That’s because I tend to have both partially drafted in my head, which takes up brain power I then can’t use on my novel. So getting the blog and newsletter done first frees up space/ lightens my cognitive load.

Similarly, if I need to organise a social thing, or tradies to repair something in the house or something else that isn’t part of my daily routine; that needs doing first. Either because it will distract me from writing, or because I’ll forget to do the thing, or because the sense of having forgotten something will distract me from writing.

ONE Big Project at Once

I’m also prone to monotropic thinking, meaning my brain does best tackling only ONE big thing at once. For example, I’m currently preparing to attend a book fair and I have to order stuff, and print signs and prepare my stall; so now is NOT a good time to write. I need to know all of the stuff I want to get, order things that take time to arrive, and decide which day/ date to finish preparation, so I don’t leave it until too late. When I’m feeling calmer and less under pressure from having achieved all that, then I’ll be in the right state of mind -cognitive load sufficiently freed up- to focus on writing.

What Frees Up Your Cognitive Load, and Focus?

Do you find yourself choosing between doing one thing properly, or multiple things while half paying attention, and not very well? Is it easy to make mistakes, and miss things when you multi task? Does it stress you out, or require lots of effort/ energy? Do you also lean towards monotropism? And if so, can you plan your life to not do a second big cognitive overload thing on the same day/ week as writing ? If not and you struggle to get any writing done; don’t beat yourself up! You’ve got a lot on your mind!

Be Realistic and Kind To Yourself

My writing schedule involves not working on novels for weeks, even months while I organise paperbacks, attending a book fair, do work things, promote books and attend to life stuff. I can’t multi task those things properly AND simultaneously, so I try to start some things early. They take as long as they take, and I get to one big thing when I finish the big thing before it. It’s slow, and always takes longer than I want. But it does things to the best standard and its the least stressful, least cognitive overload, least error prone method to get anything done. So I stick to it for as many things as I can.

I remind myself that while I prefer to publish my blog by the 5th of each month and today is the 14th; I’ve never committed to having my blog up by a certain date. Its not like I’m putting anyone out or confusing them. I’m just not meeting a personal deadline/ not sticking to THE PLAN. It’s not what I’d choose if I could magically make stuff be the way I want it too, but its ok.

Again, I’m saying ‘don’t beat yourself up.’ But I’m also saying, use your autistic logic to convince your autism that its OK that you didn’t stick to THE PLAN, because the plan wasn’t realistic (which I have to do A LOT!)

Write When You Can

When to Write

Common writing advice is ‘write everyday.’ I hate that advice, because its ableist. I used to teach five days a week. I could not hold all of my students learning needs, the content of sixteen curriculum areas, and effective teaching and classroom management pedagogy, and all key dates and deadlines in my head, AND my world building, characters, character arcs, plot and what just happened and what to write next in my novel. It’s TOO MUCH/ cognitive overload.

I’ve never tried to write daily. I don’t write on days I teach. I schedule writing time on days when it WON’T be cognitive overload. Sundays used to work best, after a day of rest on Saturday.

So when trying to set up a regular routine of which days of the week/ month your write; consider which days your brain will be most crowded and your cognitive load heaviest. Try to choose days when your brain is likely to be overloaded with other stuff. If consistency or habit is the key; every Sunday is fine.

When NOT to Write

Much harder can be knowing when not to write. I knew for years that teaching days were cognitive overload days, but it can be harder to know when you’re too tired, or too sick. And sometimes you just want things DONE. (This impacts both my ADHD working till stupid o’clock to be finished, and my autism wanting to achieve THE PLAN.)

But sometimes writing or editing is worse than not doing either. An extreme case in point, is when I put down my novel for around seven months in 2022. I had long covid, and my brain fog was BAD, as was my memory. I knew that all I would achieve was creating consistency errors and adding a million typos to a book that needed mostly just needed proof reading. So I spent WEEKS wanting edit, and not touching Secrets of the Sorcery War. I didn’t do the final edit until it wasn’t HARD/ EXHAUSTING or even too tired anymore.

If you feel like doing something bookish but are struggling to write, maybe just re-read and make some edit notes. Or brainstorm ideas for future scenes. Write a short tory or a poem instead.

DON’T force yourself to write. If I’m telling myself I should do x, it normally means I‘m too fatigued. I’m not on social media because I’m being lazy; I’m on social media because that’s the most cognitively taxing thing I can manage at that time. And that’s ok.

Set Realistic (and flexible!) Writing Goals

With ADHD, I might have the whole day free to ‘focus on writing.’ My goal may be to spend 3-4 hours writing. Or to write or edit one to three chapters. However you find most effective to measure your goal (by word count, chapter, time period etc), being realistic is important. We don’t want RSD types beating themself up if they fail to meet the goal and autistic writers unsettled because the goal is THE PLAN, and the THE PLAN not happening is unsettling. Or ADHDers thinking at 1am, “Oh dear! I didn’t do the plan. I’ll just stay up till 4am and binge write to finish it.” (Yes, I’ve done option 2 and 3 MANY times.)

So try and set a goal that takes into account how much brain power, focus, energy and time you have that day. Consider setting a goal for the week, fortnight or month (especially if you’re chronically ill and struggling to keep your fatigue levels down.)

With flexible goals like my goal to finish a round of edits by the end of this month *crosses fingers!*, you don’t need to beat yourself up for not writing on days other stuff came up. You don’t have to worry about forcing yourself when you’re not up to writing. You’re setting yourself up to make the most of days where your body is in good shape, your brain is on board and you can make progress. And you -ideally- have days to spare, relax/ rest. for ‘life’ to happen.

When To Take Breaks

I used to write for around three to four hours straight. I’d want to write longer, but I’d get to a point where everything I recall about the story start melts out of my ears. I now know this is ‘cognitive overload’. Its a point where my brain can neither take in nor hold onto information. It used to be my cue to take a break.

I’m guessing neurotypical writers take breaks because they feel tired, not because their capacity to cognitively function is failing. I know this is HARD if you’re an autistic person who doesn’t think to take pain killers unless someone hit you in the head with a shovel. (I exaggerate, but we can be terrible at noticing how much pain, hunger or thirst we’re experiencing.) Or if you’re so hyper focused, or ADHD distracted that you don’t have a clue what your body is feeling.

But try to notice when your eyes get tired. When your posture slumps in your hair. Be on the look out for when you want to keep re-reading, because you don’t have the energy to write or edit new things. Try and notice when your thoughts get blurred, or you’re starting to have trouble keeping track of things within the story. If you’re prone to not notice hunger or thirst; know when you last ate a meal. Keep an eye on the clock. If its been a few hours; its probably time for a break!

Cognitive Needs: Writing Process

You may likes to plan and organise and make and compare story notes. You may be terrified of a blank page and need a chapter by chapter outline to populate that page with words. Or you may need only a vague idea in your head and off you go, pantsing all the way! Or something in between.

When it comes to writing process; what does your brain need to enable it to construct a story on a page? Some character/ world building/ plot notes written down? Notes in your head? Vague ideas?

If scenes come to you at random and you want to write out of order; do it! You need to keep re-reading because you’re making it up as you go along and otherwise forget where the story is going? Do it! If you’re a perfectionist who gets hung up on word choices and who will spend hours line editing a scene you’re later going to delete; DON’T edit as you go. As with writing, when editing; find what process works for you and your brain!

Cognitive Needs: Editing

If you have autism or ADHD, or are prone to brain fog or have any cognitive challenge, I very much think editing every single aspect of your writing is a recipe for cognitive overload. I strongly discourage you from editing every aspect of your writing at once. Though which elements of the writing it works for you to edit together or separately and when will vary.

I find my first and second drafts are about fully developing the characters and plot. Draft three tends to add depth to characters and character relationships/ interactions. Details that bore me and are info overload on top of characters and plot, like scenic description, dialog tags showing character emotion etc, come in a separate round of edits. I do a separate edit for consistency errors, eg. noticing that I said Amon was from Bellaria in chapter 4, and from Terriah in chapter 15.

Proof reading (which may include sentence level edits, eg. breaking long sentences into shorter ones) is my final ‘edit’ of the whole text. Then I check chapter numbering, because my other edits tend to delete, merge or add multiple chapters and fixing chapter numbering while restructuring chapters is cognitive overload. So I leave it till last to check there’s only one chapter 16, not three, and there is in fact a chapter 15. (Yes; edits of Walking the Knife’s Edge had exactly that problem!)

Which details are info overload, or may bore you and slow you down? What can you edit as you go, which things do you need to edit for separately, and what needs editing last for you?

Neurotypical VS. Neurodivergent Betas & Editors

Once you’ve done the writing, I hope you’re seeking feedback to help you get out of your head and view your story from the perspective of a reader who knows nothing about your characters or story world. This is where, as a neurodivergent writer, you can hit some snags.

I’ve had a few beta readers tell me there’s ‘too much internalisation.’ That “real people don’t think so much”. They “talk more and show their feelings more by their actions in the scene”.

The disconnect is the beta readers in question were neurotypical and they were speaking about ‘real neurotypical people.’ Whereas my main characters tend to be neurodivergent. My ADHDers will naturally notice loads of things and make lots of connections in their heads, faster than they can talk.

My autistic characters (a few in Ruarnon Trilogy are AuDHD) do similar, and logically make additional connections. Then they’ll draw upon their observations and logical deductions, and draw conclusions. And they will rehearse conversations in their heads before saying things out loud. This is because I as a neurotypical person do all of the above, so that is the kind of autistic and ADHD person I tend to write.

Neurodivergent Presentation

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying, “Discard all advice from neurotypical betas or editors about ND character rep.” I found, with my first neurotypical beta reader, that Ruarnon could be themself a bit more with their actions and what they said in the scene. And those edits were likely more satisfying for neurotypical readers.

But in some cases your character will not say what they think, or show their feelings openly. For example, my main character in Sythe Series, Rarkin, is traumatised, autistic, emotionally repressed, untrusting, and DOES NOT want to display his feelings or discuss his worries with anyone he doesn’t trust with his life. (I love writing Rarkin; he’s got so much room for growth!)

In a lot of situations, writing Rarkin doing anything other than crossing his arms and glaring, or physically tensing would be writing him inauthentically. The only way to understand the insecurities he’d rather die than talk about, his darkest fears, deepest worries etc is to write him in first person, and narrate his thoughts. Its crucial to representing him authentically. Again, he’s not inclined to just share his observations, connections or conclusions about things that don’t add up in his work for Sythe. And those observations are plot-relevant and need narration. Narrating his thoughts is crucial.

Which thoughts won’t your main character say out loud and why? What feelings may they hesitate to show? When? In other words; when does authentic rep require you to narrate your characters thoughts?

Show Don’t Tell. Or tell?

A neurotypical writer saying, “Show your characters feelings on the page” may be the common (in my opinion too often uncritically applied) advice ‘show don’t tell.’ You may receive the advice, “Don’t tell us your main character is autistic, show it!”

I’m all for showing it. That’s part of giving neurotypical readers insight into life as an autistic, ADHD, anxious etc person. Its part of the power of empathy reading can build. But when it comes to your character’s identity; remember that ignorance, personal experience and related reader bias can come into play.

I once had a review saying Ruarnon’s nonbinary rep could be ‘more subtle.’ True, but why would I aim for subtlety when that would create enormous space for cis readers to cis-wash my nonbinary character? What’s the point of writing a diverse character if you’re going to let people deny that character’s identity? Whether because of ignorance, or they’ve never met a person like that, or they haven’t recognised meeting people with that identity, or because of bigotry; I tend to explicitly state character neurodivergent and queer identities. (Both of which have alternate world names in Sythe Series).

I’m not going to be so presumptuous as to tell you how to write identities (even if its one we share). But I mention the above as I think considering the possibility of people, out of ignorance or prejudice, erasing character identities, is something authors need to be mindful of, especially given the politicisation of some identities in politics and the media.

Showing Feelings Resource

Where it is appropriate to have your character outwardly showing how they feel, and like me you’re artistically oblivious to posture, gestures, facial expressions etc associated with that feeling; get the Emotion Thesaurus. It will help you write external showing of a range of emotions to other characters, and describe sensations inside the body that -if you’re like me- you’ll also be oblivious too. In other words, its a great tool to help you show emotions, especially your own awareness of how those emotions present is limited.

I Think I’m Neurodivergent

Engaging Readers (of your novel)

Writing Neurodivergent & Disabled Characters

Chronically Ill & Neurodiverse Guide to Protests

Low Spoons Travel With Autism & Chronic Illness