#focusing problems

12.05.2020

then i went back to planning my writing in the coming year, and i decided to structure my work differently. instead of setting a daily page/word requirement, or picking one project i need to finish before i allow myself to work on anything else, i’m setting a time goal. for a certain amount of time each day, i’m going to be working on my novels. 

i’ll start with the one that’s nearly done, but i’ll also allow myself to work on it however i need to. if i can’t focus on a reread, i’ll listen to music that reminds me of the world i’m building. if editing is driving me up a wall, i’ll switch to character sketches or fancasting. if i’m struggling too much with that story, i’ll move to one of my others. after all, every one of them needs improvement, so the specific order i do the work in matters less than putting in the time. 

and it wasn’t until today that i realized i had decided to try junebugging after all--i just found a way to apply it to my writing instead. 

that mental pin that i could be sticking in a cleaning spot? i’m sticking it in my first novel, and telling myself i have to keep coming back there for the next two hours...but it’s okay if i wander away from the things i know need to get done the most, as long as i keep coming back.

i’m not setting limits for how long finishing an edit or a draft should take, and i’m going to let myself explore the story with pictures and music and whatever else occurs to me. if i manage to stay in my novel world for the whole two hours, that will be an amazing success for my ADHD brain all by itself. 

and if the next day i want to open up a different draft and work on that one, that’s okay too, because i’ll still be working on my writing, and i’ll go back to the pin i stuck in my first book as soon as i’m ready.

After a certain point in the day, usually when it starts getting dark, my brain just gives up and says, “Nope!  Not doing anymore work today!  Internet forever!”