I pushed through my ADHD and wrote a 104k word novel! And people like it?!
This isn’t really a self-promo post, and I'm intentionally not including a link.
I just want to share my struggle with ADHD, my process, and how finding the right treatment finally let me finish a book.
I was diagnosed with ADHD in 1988, back when the only real option was Ritalin. I hated it, stopped taking it, and spent the next 30+ years unmedicated. I built rigorous coping systems using calendar reminders and strict routines. Eventually, I moved to LA to write screenplays and comics; formats where you're trained to stay brief and punchy.
Prose always eluded me. I’m a voracious reader and constantly had ideas, but every attempt at a novel died by chapter two. It felt like too many moving parts, too many words, and my brain simply lost focus.
Everything changed when I met my wife. She has severe ADHD, but it was managed with medication. Watching her graduate from UC Berkeley, excel in law school, and build a successful legal career made me re-evaluate my stance on treatment.
Standard stimulants are off the table for me because they just cause anxiety and a racing heart. Thankfully, a brilliant psychiatrist started me on a combo of Intuniv and Wellbutrin a year ago. It completely cleared the fog. My mood stabilized, and my ability to maintain long-term career focus skyrocketed.
Around the same time, I fell in love with web serials like Dungeon Crawler Carl. Feeling burnt out by the traditional film/TV grind, the direct-to-consumer nature of digital publishing hooked me. But online site expectations for a full "book" average around 100k+ words. The sheer scale almost made me tap out before starting.
Instead of quitting, the new medication combo actually let me sit down and do the work. I wrote, revised, and pushed through a chaotic number of drafts. Last week, I looked up and realized I was staring at a completed 105,000-word manuscript.
It's been live for a few weeks now, and the traction is solid.
For over three decades, I genuinely believed my brain wasn't wired to handle the macro-organization a novel requires. If you're currently hitting a brick wall with your executive dysfunction, don't give up on finding a system and/or a chemical balance that works for you.
It took me 45 years to get there, but I think I have finally learned to control my ADHD instead of letting it control me.