When ADHD Writers Mistake a Feeling for Story

Dear fellow ADHD writer, let me tell you about the most seductive lie your brain will ever whisper to you: That overwhelming feeling you just had? That would make a great story.

Oh, how we fall for this beautiful deception! You're walking down the street, it's October, the air is crisp and smells of wood burning, and suddenly you're hit with this wave of nostalgia so powerful it nearly knocks you sideways. Your heart starts racing. Your mind floods with images of childhood, the smell of your grandmother's kitchen, the way light filtered through old lace curtains. You grab your phone and frantically start typing: "Story about grandmother's house and childhood memories and the way everything felt magical back then..."

And then, three weeks later, you're staring at those notes thinking, "What the hell was I supposed to do with this?"

Welcome to the feeling trap, my friend. It catches the best of us.

The ADHD Brain's Beautiful Mistake

Here's what I've learned from years of writing and coaching ADHD writers: we feel everything so intensely that we mistake the intensity for narrative substance. Our neurodivergent brains are emotion-processing powerhouses, and when something moves us deeply, it feels like it must be important enough to write about.

But here's the thing that nobody tells you in creative writing classes: a feeling is not a story, no matter how beautiful or powerful that feeling might be.

A feeling is the spark. A feeling is the invitation. A feeling is the universe tapping you on the shoulder and saying, "Pay attention to this." But a feeling, on its own, is not a story.

What Makes a Story (Spoiler: It's Not Just Vibes)

Let's get practical for a moment, because I know your ADHD brain is already saying, "Okay, Kirsten, but if I free write, a story will come."

If you're lucky, and persistent, and very patient, maybe a story will come. But will it come with the essential story elements?

• Someone who wants something (your protagonist with a clear desire or need)
• Something standing in their way (conflict, obstacle, or antagonist)
• What happens when they try to get it (the journey, the attempts, the failures and successes)
• How they change (or how the world changes) as a result

That nostalgic feeling about grandmother's house? It might become the emotional fuel for a story about a woman returning to clean out her childhood home after her grandmother's death, only to discover letters that reveal family secrets. Now you have someone who wants something (understanding her family's truth), something in the way (the shocking revelations), and a journey of discovery that changes her.

See the difference?

The Feeling Detective: ADHD Writing Strategies That Actually Work

When you're struck by one of those lightning-bolt feelings, don't dismiss it. But don't mistake it for a finished story idea either. Instead, use The Story Snapshot Template, and write it down so you don't lose it. Fill in as much of the template as you're able at this point in your story journey. And then become a detective of your own emotions.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What specifically triggered this feeling?
• What memories or experiences is it connecting to?
• What deeper truth about human nature might this feeling be pointing toward?
• Who might be the kind of person who would experience this feeling intensely?
• What situation could create this emotional state in someone else?

This is where your ADHD superpower kicks in. That same intensity that makes you feel everything so deeply also gives you incredible empathy and emotional intelligence. You can use that to imagine characters who might experience similar feelings, but in completely different circumstances.

The Sacred Practice of Emotional Archaeology

I want you to think of your feelings as archaeological sites. When you're hit with that powerful emotion, you've just discovered something significant buried in the landscape of human experience. But you wouldn't just dig up one pottery shard and call it a complete civilization, would you?

You need to excavate carefully. You need to ask what other artifacts might be buried nearby. You need to understand the context, the culture, the story of the people who left these emotional traces behind.

Here's your creative writing process for ADHD minds:

1. Capture the feeling immediately - voice memo, phone note, whatever works
2. Create a file using the Story Snapshot Template
3. Sit with it for 24 hours - let your subconscious do some work
4. Ask the detective questions - dig deeper into what this feeling means
5. Imagine a character who isn't you but might feel this way
6. Put that character in a situation where this feeling becomes the catalyst for action

Permission to Feel Without Producing

Here's something else I want you to know, something that might just change everything: not every feeling needs to become a story. Some feelings are just meant to be felt.

Your ADHD brain might resist this idea. We're so used to feeling like we need to do something with every intense experience, to make it productive somehow. But sometimes, that overwhelming moment of beauty or sadness or wonder is complete exactly as it is.

You have permission to feel without producing. You have permission to be moved without writing. You have permission to experience the fullness of your emotional life without turning it all into content.

The Plot Twist: Feelings Make Stories Better

Here's the beautiful irony: once you stop trying to force feelings to be stories, your actual stories become infinitely more powerful. Because now, instead of dumping raw emotion onto the page and hoping it resonates, you're using those feelings as the emotional truth that drives real characters through real conflicts toward real change.

Your ADHD brain's capacity for intense feeling becomes your secret weapon for creating characters that readers can't forget, for writing scenes that make people cry on public transportation, for crafting stories that stick in hearts long after the last page is turned.

So the next time you're hit with one of those overwhelming waves of emotion, take a breath. Feel it fully. Honour it completely. And then ask yourself: "What story might want to grow from this feeling?"

Because that is where the pieces start to fall into place.

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