An ADHD Witch’s Writing Practice
Writing is a delicate art of the heart. How we form our practice looks different for each and every one of us, and is as unique as our finger prints. Outlined below are some of the steps I took to build my practice, and as I am venturing into writing a book — sharing some of my methods.
I am an ADHD person who does have a difficult time focusing, but ADHD goes well beyond just being able to focus. It’s disruption in executive functioning, understanding how and what to prioritize, how to even begin a project like this (daunting) and how to follow through. Thankfully we’re gifted with what’s known as hyper-focus — and if an ADHD person is truly interested in what they’re doing, they will give it their all. Be sure to love what you’re doing.
I am a non-college educated person, so I do not have a background in proper writing etiquette. I have learned through being a voracious reader and following in step with the writing cadence of my writing ancestors and elders. You don’t have to have schooling under your belt to be a good writer! Not to toot my own horn as it were, but if I can do it, so can you.
So, let’s look at some foundational practices followed by some question and answering from a poll that I did on Instagram.
1. Building the Practice
Make coffee, sip coffee, sit, write. This is my practice. I follow an outline for stream of consciousnesses writing inspired by the work of Julia Cameron, called morning pages. At first, I did this all by hand in my journal, as this is what she recommends. However, I moved it to my laptop into a writing program called OM Writer — a really beautiful program with adjustable backgrounds, typing sounds and even ambient music (that is actually good!). I did this because I knew I was approaching a writing project and that I would need to get more comfortable with typing effectively. I set a word count goal of 1200 words each morning. What do I write about? Anything and everything. I let whatever is lingering at the top of mind drift down into my fingers and onto the digital page I am working on. Sometimes this looks like complaining, worrying, feeling joy or love, sometimes sketching out ideas. Whatever it is, I just let it flow without any hesitation. You can literally write, “I don’t know what to write” as long as you’re writing it! Doing this practice has become like breathing air, I need to do it to keep the writing vitality moving. Sometimes I take very unconscious breaths, sometimes I practice my breathing and expand and contract with intention. Sometimes it’s messy, incoherent and rambling. A lot of the time it makes no sense whatsoever. Sometimes it is beautiful and becomes something that I expand upon later into another piece of writing.
If you want to improve your writing and make a good habit of it, this should be the first thing that you do. It will bring ease and allow you to move through those stuck points in your practice. It will teach you to focus and even become a source of solace. My morning pages have made my writing practice what it is. It skims off the layer of debris to make way for the real heart of the matter.
2. Consistency & Self Discipline
Doing morning pages has developed a sense of consistency for me. Because I show up daily there, I now write with ease for the most part. Doing morning pages has allowed me to lose the fear of starting on a blank page.
Developing consistency and discipline is multi-pronged. Let us look at some of these points to help generate that self-discipline.
Make the time. Set up a time of day that you will engage in a writing practice. If you are serious, give yourself an hour each day, or a half-hour. It usually takes me about 20-30 minutes to get down 1200 words of morning pages each morning. The liminal hours of dusk and dawn are great hours to do some writing, but I also find that my most productive working writing comes during the mid-day hours when the sun is at their apex. There is something clarifying about the strong rays of the sun shining down on everything — giving clarity and vitality to my words. The point here is, to find that magical time that works for you. Feel it out.
Create a schedule. Like making time, you can create a writing schedule for yourself. Jot down all that you must complete in a day and notice where you have open spaces to write. Organize your tasks by the hour and slip in that writing practice as a part of your to-do list. Carve out the time.
Show up. Showing up is a part of the process. I will discuss ways to make the showing up more pleasant. But show up at the same time, the same place every day. Writing is a ritual that one engages in. If we do not show up on time, in the right space, the magic will not happen. Sometimes we may drag our feet and you can do that, drag your feet all you want. But sit down and do the work. I know that when I am feeling creatively blocked around writing, if I sit there long enough words will eventually come. Even if it’s one sentence or one paragraph. Just write it down. When we show up with consistency, a flow will occur. It’s like working a muscle.
3. Setting and Ambiance
This is a key part of my writing practice. I have a dedicated space to do this work. Now, mind you I live in a rural place with cheap rent, so I have been able to dedicate a singular room of my house to writing. My writing desk is also my main working altar. Writing is magic and I do not separate the two. Dichotomies do damage in my opinion.
Much of my writing is dedicated to ancestors, spirits and deity. Inviting them in and occupying the same space allows me to connect more deeply to my practice and have them guide me.
Candles and incense are key here as well. While I do burn magical candles centered around creative writing work, I also burn scented candles for pleasure. The olfactory sense triggers me into a space and helps create the ritual of writing. Incense, candle, my glass of iced tea and a good playlist allow me to slip into an altered state to write. Generating this ambiance lets me move into my place of power, an internal landscape that supports my writing. Overall, I am chasing after a feeling. With time, I have understood how to capture this feeling with scent and sound — so that when these cues are activated, I am too.
Benoit Pioulard playlist on Spotify is great. Most of the music is non-lyrical — and sweeping repetitive sounds that allow for a trance like experience.
Both of these transport me to the desolate sagebrush steppe that I inhabit — allowing me to access a portal from within my home and writing desk.
4. Generating Focus
As an ADHD person, focus can be a difficult task. Sometimes, I am writing while I am pacing my house. Or when I am washing the dishes. Or driving. Or taking a walk. I am always writing. Writing does not have to look like writing proper. At most, I will write for only one hour at a time, or 45 minutes. I do not slog through hours and hours of writing. It just doesn’t work for me. If you have a hard time focusing, set a time limit and focus only on that. Shut the door, silence and put away your phone, tell your partner not to bother you, put the dog in their kennel. Do everything possible to not get distracted, even if for 15 minutes at a time. Short bursts are better than long slogs. Get in and get out.
There is some romanticism over a writer fretting over their pages for hours at a time. If you’re that kind of writer, props to you! I envy that style, but it doesn’t work for me. Usually, I will only generate that kind of fevered writing when I am working on an essay, sometimes I will spend 3-4 hours writing because there was a deep urgency in me. With writing a book, I will work on it for only an hour, maybe two each day for a set period of time. In this case, I have had 6 months to work on the project — I will maximize every bit of space I get within that time, and an hour or two each day will do me right in the long haul of that project.
On the magical tip, a rock or root makes a fine ally to work with in your writing projects. Keeping it nearby to remind you, and for it to have an influence on your work. I use a small quartz I was gifted that fits perfectly between my thumb and forefinger. I spent about 15 minutes charging it with the energy of clarity and focus while holding it in my left hand with my right hand cupped over it. I generated a ball of energy and pushed it into the stone. When I pause and reflect on my writing, I hold it. While I write, I keep it right next to me.
5. Imposter Syndrome & Writers Block
The cure for imposter syndrome is to not make your writing about you. It’s about being of service to others, even if the writing is indeed, about you. You are sharing something that will land in the ears or eyes of another who needs to see and read it. This isn’t about you, it’s about being of service to a community, no matter how small of a niche it is.
In writing my book, I was deathly and I mean, deathly afraid of the imposter syndrome stopping me in my tracks. It hasn’t yet, because I surrendered my will over to a power greater than myself. This might sound familiar to anyone in a 12 step recovery program and indeed, that is the inspiration that I draw upon. When I began my book, I went into 12 step recovery from drug and alcohol abuse and it changed my life. No longer were my actions about me, but about helping others. When I came from this place of service in my writing and work, all feelings of blockages and imposter syndrome literally melted away — and I have, through the grace of Our Lady, maintained my sobriety.
Find a higher power, a power that is greater than yourself. Be of service to them, and dedicate your project to them. Mine is our Holy Mother. Innana. Mary. Babalon. To her, I give all of my work and to her, I am in service to. This can look however it needs to for you. A higher power can be a river, your landscape, an ancestor, your community. Remember that it is not about you, but who you’re in service to. Coming from this place will change a lot. I know it did for me, as I am literally the Queen of Imposter Syndrome. Especially with being a person who has had little to no proper and conventional education. Who am I to write a book? Well, it’s not about me. It’s about you, my writing is for you.
6. How to Approach the Beginning of a Project + Organization
Brain dumps and outlines. My method here is to do a full brain dump on a piece of paper. It can be tempting to order your brain dump about your project, but I advise you to just let it flow and organize later. An aspect of ADHD is that we have a hard time knowing which things to prioritize or how to order them. What I like to do, and find helpful is to do the brain dump and then highlight anything that really needs to get done for the project.
Outlines work really well, and it’s what has given me structure with my book. With the support and guidance of an acquisitions editor, they helped me outline my project to build the bones of it all.
I brain-dumped for each chapter title, not worrying about the order of the chapters and how they should build on one another. Detailed in short what each chapter was about and then, I set to organizing and ordering the chapters in a way that made sense to my brain. Then I plugged it all into Scrivener. Which I am using now to write this very blog post. Scrivener, who I am not affiliated with in any way, is an incredible writing tool if you don’t use it already. It allows you to have various projects and organize them by chapter, and then pages if that makes sense. Once you get in the program you’ll see. It takes a tiny bit of learning to understand the system (and believe me, I struggle with learning new computer software systems) but it’s quite intuitive. From there, I can move things around if need be. It keeps track of my word counts and helps me keep things tidy. It also has a unique function of organizing chapters by sticky note style. Give it a try if you don’t use it already. It’ll change your life.
I also do digital brain dumps in the program called OM Writer. A beautiful minimalist program for writing. Complete with changeable backgrounds, typing sounds, and music. I really like having my writing take up all of my screen so that it limits distractions. Both OM Writer and Scrivener have this function, which I find valuable.
7. Tarot, Prompts & Spirits
The fun stuff. Often I will pull a tarot card to set the tone of my writing, or to generate a prompt to work with. Or, alternatively, I will pull a card to meditate on while I write. I particularly like The Hermit, The Sun and the High Priestess for this kind of work. Laying out your cards can be a magical act, as they do alter how we view things and think. The tarot can act as a prompt for your writing as well. Study the card and see where it takes you and what it brings up.
The card I pulled for this blog post was The Hierophant. Teaching! Learning, and sharing with folks the keys and knowledge that I have gleaned from in my experience of writing as a ritual practice.
Spirits can be a wonderful point of guidance and inspiration. I have spoken to more than one fellow witch writer who often sets up a small shrine, or places books of their favorite authors around them, hoping that some of their magic rubs off on them! Who you work with for guidance and inspiration doesn’t have to be a writer. One of my favorite folks in the whole world is David Bowie. For his flair, expression and utter uniqueness. Placing a small photo, along with a white candle, glass of water and simple prayer can be a great way to connect with their spirit. Another writerly spirit that I have been interested in working with is Henry Miller. What I was inspired to do here was find a copy of one of his books that he has signed, along with a photo and a glass of water, and of course a candle. Working with his spirit as I write. Calling in and communing with him as a source of guidance and inspiration. Takes a little work, but I feel it will be worth it.
8. Nurturing & Support
Community matters. Finding folks to be in community with can be rewarding and valuable especially when it comes to accountability. Recently I had the experience of joining a writing group. A space was held in zoom to come together, chat about our projects and then set a timer for an hour to work on said project. At the end, we all came together to discuss what we’d gotten done. There was no reading of our material, or critiques — it was simply a space generated to help us focus for a set amount of time. Be on the lookout for writing groups! You can find them through social media and if you can’t find one, make one!
Speak with other authors and published writers. Very often they will be all too happy to share their experience and style, as well as bitch and moan about the process, because indeed, sometimes writing is a slog. Having a mentor of sorts, or someone to talk to who’s gone through the process can be a great source of understanding.
If you’re ready to publish, pitch your book and listen to your editor they can be an incredible source of learning. As Stephen King says, “the editor is always right.” — sometimes.
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I hope this helps anyone out there wanting to develop a writing practice, or if you’re wanting to start writing that book. Do it, we need your work, we need your words.