Tag: writing

Healing Emotionally and Physically

I haven’t written in ages. I tried once during the spring. I’m still keeping up with creativity, just not writing. I have been drawing lately. It has been difficult two years for me emotionally and physically. I am slowly healing and getting stronger.

My block started when my father died. I haven’t been able to write since then. I haven’t been trying to push myself, either. I understand feelings need their own time. It hasn’t helped that I have been suffering from sciatica just after the New Year. I have been putting my energy into healing both emotionally and physically. I have written down ideas for blog posts and my story. I want to write more about my character creation. I’ve also been suffering from writer’s block as I don’t like the scene I’m writing right now. I have decided to start fresh. I am keeping what I have written, and I will use some of it, just not the bit that annoys me. I have gotten to a start with a new start. I have heard lots of advice about not throwing anything away so everything will have a file somewhere.

Physical recovery hasn’t been too easy recently. My back seems better even though I still have pain if I sit too long. I am hoping I can start recovering more during the autumn when the weather cools down. Please take care of your body the best you can. I’m learning the hard way (again) that the back is very important, and when it breaks, it puts on the brakes. I haven’t been able to sit down on the computer chair as much, but luckily I can sit comfortably in other places. It’s a good reason for me to draw! I have drawn at multiple points in my life and am trying to get into the habit again. I don’t have any story-related pictures at the moment, but I am working on them! I have lots of creativity, and it cannot be stopped!

Emotionally, I am trying to take it easy. I know putting extra stress on me isn’t going to help. I have restarted doing mindfulness. For me, it’s mainly breathing exercises and using petting cats as a grounding exercise. I try not to listen to the voice in my head that says I am lazy and I should function like a normal person fully abled person. I will never be fully abled. I would be very happy with half-abled. I find it important to realise where that lazy voice is coming from. It helps me to stop listening to it. It’s not an instant fix, but you can have a big impact on how you feel by changing how you think.

I am also trying to keep busy. I am still continuing my psychology studies and learning more about what it is like to be a human. I am eagerly waiting for the next course to start! I am hoping to get some ideas to write blog posts from my course too. I have a lot of ideas listed, I just need to crack on them.

This post is basically about life goes on. This is also your message to take a deep breath and relax for a bit. Take a moment to enjoy your moment.

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Still alive

I haven’t been writing as much this summer. I’ve had a few things over the summer and most of it was regarding one or another health condition. I have been battling with ADHD this summer. I was medicated when I started this blog and I’ve been off my meds for a bit because I haven’t been able to get an appointment for them. This is basically the state of the UK mental health services, and not just because of the pandemic. It’s been like this for years.

I’ve also been battling with covid and possible long covid or worsening of my conditions. Basically, I have had more brain fog and fatigue since covid. It’s slightly getting better now with time. I definitely do not want to have covid again.

I’m writing this for my sake. I am writing this so I don’t get too anxious about writing my next real post. I have a tendency to get more and more anxious as more time goes past. And this is a note that I will write again when I feel better.

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Writing in Foreign Language

I am not a native English speaker. I do live in an English-speaking country and my main language is English right now. I do find it sometimes frustrating to write in English because I make mistakes. There are things about the English language I don’t seem to get easy. One of them is articles… I hope I am improving, but I think that is for someone else to judge.

So, what do I do to improve? There are a few things that help. Here is my list.

I use software to help. I have Grammarly and it helps with missing articles. I feel that helps me more than anything else. Someone suggested I should use a grammar book. I had a really expensive grammar book but it never helped me to notice missing articles in my writing. Grammarly helps me to identify them. There are other programs like ProWritingAid as well, but I don’t have personal experience with it.

Just write. It helps to get more comfortable with it. I would also recommend getting a native speaker as a beta reader and help you to improve. It will become more natural the more you write as well.

Try a course in the English language. I studied English at university but you don’t have to go that far. There are places like OpenLearn that offer free courses in many languages. Those are really useful to practise your basics.

Use it with others. Get a pen pal or go to an English-speaking group. This is what I did when I was living in my home country. Technically there were two groups in my town, one for university exchange students and the other for people living in the town. These two did mix as well. In Europe, Erasmus is one of the student exchange programs and they offer group activities as well. They also welcome natives. I answered so many questions about the town and the culture.

Read English books. Reading helps you unconsciously to learn. It helps to use difficult grammar, like articles for me, and helps you absorb the language. It also helps with writing. You start to learn how the narrative works.

This might be a little controversial, but watch tv, listen to podcasts, audiobooks, etc. I feel like I get the language being used today best from TV. Languages change very quickly, especially the words being used. We get new words, we lose words. The language evolves. Sometimes I like to watch a specific movie or tv show to get me in the right mood for writing. I try to use older, more formal language so if I watch something that uses similar language, it helps me to be in the right state of mind.

Lastly, don’t be scared of it. It is difficult to start, but if you keep up, it will get easier. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, do the best you can and you will get better.

This is my list of writing in a foreign language. Please let me know if you have other tips that help you!

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Writing and Creativity

Ideas for stories are everywhere. You can find them in real life, on TV, in other books, and in your own imagination.

According to the Cambridge dictionary, creativity is the “ability to produce or use original and unusual ideas”. Some of us have more creativity than others. It’s believed that people with ADHD, like me, are more creative than neuronormals. Which I can believe. Creativity creates ideas in your head with a small filter of what should happen, what is realistic or how things connect. We have a little filter between these jumps, which you can notice if you are talking to someone with ADHD, and their, our, conversation jumps from one thing to flower pot, as we say in Finland. This is a big part of creativity, the ability to jump from one idea to another.

These jumps can be measured. I have been told of an exercise where you are asked to write down ‘what can you use a brick for’. So this includes the normal ones, like to make a wall, a fence, a road or an oven. Or it can include stuff like something to step to reach higher, a paperweight. If you give it to a child, it could become a character or vehicle. There is a little filter in our head that thinks, ‘oh, this is stupid, not that’.

For writing, I think it’s important to stop thinking that way. There are no stupid ideas when it comes to creating a new world. This comes naturally to me as someone with ADHD, but I think anyone can create a safe place for themselves where there are no stupid ideas. A spark of an idea can create a world. You can get these sparks anywhere. I got the spark for my series from a tv series. It was a simple what if. What if instead of that happening, what if this happened. That was the start I needed. Then I started to write down a few things, and it keeps growing and growing until it was a full world. Another great starting place is dreams. Write down dreams, and they might spark something to write.

To support creativity, figure out what works for you. I am someone who tends to prognosticate, so I use that as a pro for creativity than a con. I start thinking about whatever is bugging me. It can be a scene, a person. I start to think about them, their relationships with other people or scenes. It usually goes somewhere when I just allow myself to relax and be open to it. It won’t happen if I’m stressed. Some people prefer just to write and write. I’m not the type, but there is nothing wrong with being either type. Knowing what works for you will help you. If you try to do it in a way that doesn’t support who you are, it can make you more frustrated. Self-reflection helps here. Get to know yourself. Ask yourself questions.

I hope this helps to get you to think a bit more about creativity. Most importantly, I will say, try not to worry and stress. Do something relaxing, take a moment for yourself.

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Community and Writing

Writing can be quite a lonely thing. You are holed up in your room, writing away. Having other people or pets can be distracting and interrupt your flow in your writing. Writing is also hard work emotionally sometimes. But it’s not something you have to do completely alone. There are different types of communities for writers and I am going to talk about a few of them.

One of the ones I go to most is the Twitter #writingcommunity. They are loads of advice and writer’s lifts to get to know others and get your own writings out there. You can ask them for advice on things that are puzzling you. I think they are an incredibly supportive community. If you are intending to publish your work, it also shows the tears of frustration and success.

The other is also group meets. I’ve found some from Meetup and from my nationality’s community. We have a pretty strong community and I think the big reason is that there aren’t that many of us. We try to keep in touch and one of the things we have is a writer’s group. Now that world is opening again, there are meetups in pubs and other places. There is a lot to choose from depending on what you can and want to do.

You can also take part in a degree or course in writing. They often have their own groups as well where you can meet with other participants. This is a more expensive option but can take your writing to a next level.

There is also the Discord. I am part of a few Discord servers meant for writing. I literally just went on google and searched for writing Discord and found a few very interesting ones. I am also part of some of my university ones where they are less about writing but more about community for similar people and some of us write.

Writing doesn’t have to be a lonely adventure. I personally think it’s important to talk to others, you can bounce ideas and vent about your frustrations.

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Blocks

I am right now in a writing block. It’s not as much a creative block but just a block that is not letting me write. I just wanted to explore the few different ones that I have got so far.

I have had creative blocks or writer’s blocks. These mean different to different people. For me, they mean that I cannot think creatively about what happens next. I am just stuck. I have identified a few reasons for this. It might not be the same for you. For me it means, I have no way forward. I have noticed this keeps happening when I don’t have an outline. I am a plantser, so I like to write from the seat of my pants and plan a bit. I usually have an overall plot. I have a few points where I need to get, but I don’t know how I get there until I write the story. If I don’t have a point to go to, I tend to get stuck.

Another thing is that I might have a completely different idea of what is about to happen, which doesn’t go with my outline. Until I figured out how to accept and bring two ideas together, I would be stuck. It can sometimes take a bit of time and go from different angles.

Sometimes I just don’t know what to do next, even if I know where I’m supposed to go. Nothing just comes to mind. It feels like my mind is a complete blank.

What do I do to help these situations? With the first one, I would try to write out an outline. Sometimes this does lead to the third problem. If I get any ideas, I will write them down, and eventually, it will become a full novel! Sometimes the ideas are completely random and it feels like they cannot connect, but it does come together. Again, it does connect to problem two.

For the second block, I go visit my world. I admit that I have hyperphantasia and ADHD and I can literally see my world like I was in it. I read what I’ve written, listen to the people, see what is out there. I try to catch an idea from something tiny spark. And sometimes, I just have to start writing and the magic just happens. I think often we are too worried or stressed and that blocks our creativity. We want it to go one way, and it doesn’t want to. We just have to give it time and it will right itself. Just the process.

What do I do when my mind is completely black? I need to figure out why. The first thing I do is take a step back. If I’m too close, I won’t be able to see the problem. The problem might be that one of my characters want to do something else. The worst thing I can do to myself is stress myself out. I cannot give myself too tight deadlines or write every day. It will block my creativity if I have to force it. I will stress myself and my mind goes blank. When that happens, I try to destress myself. The best way is to do something else creative. I love dancing, painting and singing. I just need a creative stress free outlet. So, I do something else. When I am less stressed, I start thinking properly again and I have a good idea.

The best ideas can come from anywhere. I have gotten what if idea off a tv show. What if that happened. I can also do it with my story. What if my main character encounters something weird like a dragon? I would say normally, what-if scenarios are to be avoided when it comes to real life, but as a writer, I find them to be amazing!

Sometimes it’s about a lack of faith in yourself. Some people say don’t this, but sometimes having a friend or family member read your story and most likely they will like it and it will keep the motivation to write going.

I hope this has given you some ideas!

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My current story

 My new story! It is about a sort of ordinary woman. She is like me! I have given her some of my traits. She has ADHD like I do. Hers doesn’t seem to be as bad as mine is. Or that is just the shock of her new situation! Stress does weird things to ADHD. 

Anyway, getting side tracked already! She is from London, and finds something odd and decides to go through it. She ends up in the middle ages with magic! She finds new people, new friends who will end up being her family! She ends up in the middle of a bad situation. The kingdom she ends up in, has a evil ruler. The normal, greedy bastard who has some evil men working for him as well. The people she is with, want to change it back to peaceful place it was before him. So, she goes with them.She helps them as much as she can, she fights with them, and gets hurt with them.

This is a story of her growth, her finding a place to belong, of her going through difficult situations and how she overcomes her trauma. There is a lot more, but I can’t tell everything in a blog! I haven’t decided what to do with the story when it’s finished. This is the first part of it though. I have enough ideas for three stories! I might selfpublish. In case I do, I don’t want to give away too much.. I will however post bits of chapters in the future! I will also post about difficulties about writing, what I have come up with and how do I keep going on with writing. With ADHD, it is a bit tricky.

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