Writing with a Mind That Won’t Sit Still

Until recently, I never thought too deeply about how my brain works when it comes to writing. But after my second son was diagnosed with ADHD, and I began to understand more about it, I started seeing familiar patterns—patterns in him that I’ve lived with for years. Like the inability to focus on just one story at a time. I try to be structured. Most days I split my time intentionally: mornings are for writing, the afternoons for other things (at least in theory). I’ve even drawn up plans and set priorities. But more often than not, I find myself chasing the latest idea, the newest spark—drawn like a moth to flame. It’s not that I abandon projects easily. In fact, I’ve got a whole clutch of novels that are 75% written, their characters suspended in time, waiting for me to return. They’re not self-edited, not quite ready for the world, but they’re very much alive in my head. And therein lies the real issue: I don’t get to switch it off. At night, when I should be resting, I lie awake for hours—plotting, untangling a stubborn hole in a mystery, replaying a scene to see how it might land better. I know this kind of mental gymnastics isn’t exactly conducive to sleep, but when your mind is wired like mine, stories don’t respect the boundaries of bedtime. The truth is, I’m obsessed with writing. Every time I try to carve out space to focus on marketing, I’m almost immediately distracted by a new twist, a bit of dialogue, or a “what if” that feels too urgent to ignore. It’s not always practical, and it’s certainly not efficient, but it’s honest. My brain doesn’t follow a linear path, and neither does my writing life. But here’s the thing: even when I get frustrated by how long things take, even when I know there’s a more “productive” way to operate, I wouldn’t trade it. Because successful or not, I have characters who feel real and stories that demand to be told. They come knocking whether I’ve invited them or not, and once they do, I have to answer. I don’t always finish a book in a straight line. Sometimes I come back to one after months of chasing others. But I finish them eventually. And along the way, I’m learning to give myself a bit more grace—to accept that my way of working might look chaotic from the outside, but it’s how the stories get made. If you’re wired like this too — if you have half-written drafts, an overflowing notes app, or plot holes keeping you up at night—you’re not alone. Creativity doesn’t always arrive on schedule. Sometimes it’s loud and unruly. But when it calls, we write. Because we must.