Why ADHD Writers’ Brains Are Like Lions (and How to Harness Their Power)

Photo by Keyur Nandaniya on Unsplash

Today’s guest post is by author and freelance editor Sarah Chauncey. Join us on Friday, April 10, for a free session on Craft & Process Tips for ADHD Writers.

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If you were to pick an animal that represents the ADHD brain, you might think of squirrels, continually darting their eyes to assess any change in their environment. Or puppies, with their boundless energy, always chasing a new ball and looking for a new human hand to offer pets.

You probably wouldn’t think of lions, those kings and queens of the savannah, yet lions have many things in common with ADHDers. This connection might point to the role played by those with neurodivergent brains in ancient hunter-gatherer tribes, but I digress (did I mention I’m AuDHD?).

While every brain is as unique as a fingerprint, here are some features common to both ADHD writers and lions:

• Lions may appear to be surveying their territory, but they actually take in the entire landscape at once. Similarly, ADHD brains perceive systems holistically, rather than the predictive processing of neurotypical brains.
• Once lions notice something that interests them, they lock in and hyperfocus. The ADHD brain, too, locks in on a particular topic and hyperfocuses on a project or idea.
• Lions are fast: They can run 50mph (81kph). ADHD brains also work superfast, especially when we’re in hyperfocus mode.
• Lions rest up to 20 hours a day. This way, they conserve energy for the next burst. Similarly, ADHD brains need rest after a hyperfocus burst.
• Lions don’t move through the world in straight lines. Whether following the escape path of their prey or strolling the grassland, their movement is nonlinear. So are ADHD brains.

ADHDers, of course, aren’t apex predators, and lions don’t write books. While the metaphor is far from perfect, many of us are on hunts of our own: finishing the manuscript, self-publishing or securing an agent and being signed to a trade book deal, getting excellent reviews, winning awards, having a streaming series based on our book, accepting the Emmy…

But first, we have to finish the thing.

We get tripped up in writing, because in this cultural moment, the majority of books geared toward a broad audience, published by a trade publisher, are linear stories, maybe with dual timelines or flashbacks, but not experimentally nonlinear. Nonlinear storytelling is absolutely possible as an advanced technique, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

Over the past 18 years as a developmental editor and writing coach, I’ve noticed certain patterns among my clients with ADHD.

Why neurotypical writing advice doesn’t always land for ADHDers

Our culture is designed around neurotypical (NT) norms, which are linear, often repetition-based, and confusing to ADHDers. The most common advice for NTs is to sit down, day after day, and consistently produce a certain number of words, even if the writing is crappy. That doesn’t work for most ADHD brains.

We’re designed for cyclical output (hyperfocus/rest), not the slow-and-steady approach commonly advised. Many of us also have very low frustration tolerance; if we sit in a chair and can’t write, we’re likely to get annoyed and frustrated, which further blocks our ability to write.

When ADHD writers don’t honor their nonlinear writing process, it can result in a scattered manuscript that doesn’t tell one clear story; it’s hard for readers, both neurotypical and neurodivergent, to follow. As readers, most of us—regardless of neurotype—want to read fast-paced, tight writing.

The challenge for many ADHD writers is how to take nonlinear perception and create a linear(ish) story.

Seeing the whole savannah

The ADHD brain perceives systems the way a lion perceives the savannah: everything, everywhere, all at once. Most of this is subconscious.

Not every detail we notice is going to belong in our books. Over the past two decades, I’ve noticed that ADHD writers come up with exceptional specificity, which is a significant writing strength. Sometimes there’s too much specificity, though, or too much detail.

This results in scenes and chapters where the reader can’t understand the hierarchy of what’s important, because the author isn’t clear about what’s most important. Sentences, paragraphs and scenes run longer than necessary (what editors call “loose” writing), which slows the pace to a crawl and can lead to reader boredom.

Stay in the flow by using bursts

Like lions, when ADHD brains notice something that piques our interest, we mentally latch onto it, often for days, weeks or longer. When we’re in flow, we can write thousands of words a day. Our theme song is Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” We lock in and GO.

Flow feels amazing, yet the volume and velocity of ideas can be a challenge for ADHD writers, especially when words come faster than we can write or type. I often recommend dictation for clients with ADHD, and I sometimes use it myself.

Integration, rest and replenishment

Just as a lion needs to rest after a hunt, ADHD writers need to rest and replenish after a hyperfocus burst. This isn’t laziness. We live in a culture that devalues rest, yet consider:

• Muscles grow during the rest following a workout, not when we’re lifting weights.
• The brain consolidates and integrates what it has learned during sleep, not while sitting in the classroom.
• During rest, body and mind can replenish for the next hyperfocus sprint. If you’d like to dive deeper, I’ve written about the benefit of intentional breaks for writers.

Without sufficient rest, our writing become more puppy than lion: the narrative leaps all over the place, the voice becomes inconsistent, and the reader gets tangled up in the story.

Coming into stillness

Writers with ADHD brains need to ground before we begin writing. That doesn’t necessarily mean rest or sleep. More often, I ask clients what brings them a sense of mental quietude. Again, this will look different for each person, because every brain is different, and each of us has different preferences. Here are some that work for my clients (and me):

• Meditation
• Spending time in nature
• Going for a walk
• Playing with a dog, cat or other animal (no lions, please)

In a busy world, carving out even a few minutes to meditate or go for a short walk can yield great benefits in writing. The important thing is to get offline completely.

If possible, find something that gives you a sense of awe and wonder. Awe quiets the mind, and a quiet(er) mind lets you hear your own creative ideas.

Even if you only have, say, 30 minutes before you pick up the kids from school, use the first 10 minutes to allow your mind and body to settle. You’ll write more in the remaining 20 minutes than if you force yourself to sit for 30.

Listen to your inner rhythms

Although 50mph is fast, lions’ prey, like gazelles and wildebeests, are equally fast if not faster. In addition, lions’ daytime vision isn’t as strong as their vision at dawn and dusk. Add in the brutal heat of the midday savannah, that gazelles are more alert during the day, and it makes more sense for lions to hunt in the cooler hours when prey is sleeping.

We, too, have to be selective about when we focus. If we’re exhausted, or pushing ourselves because someone else told us we have to, we’re less likely to slide into a flow state. The exception, of course, are deadlines. As I often say: Can’t stand ’em, can’t finish anything without ’em.

Like lions, ADHD brains have enormous power. Speaking from experience, it’s easy for that power to become scattered, leading to endless drafts and having trouble seeing which parts of the story are essential. This leads to lack of response from agents or, for self-publishers, readers not finishing the book.

Although I firmly believe that divergent brains are a feature of our species, not a bug, the current writing and publishing paradigms can make us feel like we’re not doing it right. By learning to embrace the nonlinear nature of the ADHD brain, you can learn to write with more ease and less frustration.

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