I wasn’t really sure if this belongs in the help section or not as it is more of an in general question and also kind of awkward so here goes: I’m recently been having an issue while doing some writing where as I’m working on a particular section that is, without being too crass, relevant to my interests, I begin to lose focus and, well I hope I don’t have to explain further.
It’s quite frustrating as I want to keep writing but I can’t make any real progress. Has anyone else had (or still has) this issue and if so how have you gotten around it, if you have that is 
If I correctly understand what you’re implying, let me ask another relevant question. Is it that you’re getting distracted by your interests and looking at other things or are you getting too invested into your writing?
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Definitely too invested in my writing.
It generally tends to happen when I write physical descriptions, details about food (especially the amount) and the eating of said food, describing giving into desires, along with a few other things.
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Well, I have adhd.
So, for me what’s important is to accomodate myself. I don’t brute force my engagement. Instead, I use rhythm and breaks to keep me on task. I don’t need to fit in or write every last detail right now, or on any given work and I try to make sure I don’t act like I do.
So regular writing sessions, with regular organized breaks, and downtime/distance from any given project help me stay on task. And that can be for a day or it can be for a week. Right now, I’m working on something and my schedule is organnizd around things I can’t complicate or get stuck on. Because the secret about adhd is if it has something to get lost on - it will.
You may not have this condition, mind, but I feel this is good general advice too. For me, right now, that means 15 minutes outlining whatever scene or chapter or series of chapters I wanna work on, and then 15, 30, 45 minutes writing away. A regular 10-15 minute break, two, three times a day. And in general I just take it slow.
The best thing you can do. On ANY project. Is to think of yourself as a human being who’s not going to be a perfect engine - and then make accomodations for yourself. Set your schedule up so that you HAVE this extra lee way. And you’ll be amazed at how much work you can get done AND get away with.
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My best advice would be to try and maintain a level of interest that allows you to get invested into your writing, and then when/if it gets to be too much, take a like a five minute break to cool off.
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Thanks for the advice.
@Jarender I’m not diagnosed but pretty sure I have ADHD. I’m terrible at scheduling, my current work method is to just sit there and hope the work happens I’ll try and set myself some times, maybe have a game open that I can jump back and forth from.
@Nopnopenohome Yeah, I’m thinking the best thing to do is when I feel too ‘interested’ I just stop writing and take some time off
Oooh nah, nah. Don’t have it open if you think you do have adhd lmao. I PROMISE YOU - There for but the grace of those who have fallen before me, go I. It will fuck you up lmao.
If you need to take short breaks, close out of what you’re doing and queue a game up, but do NOOOOOT have that shit running lmao.
Additionally, if you do have adhd - and thus happen to find yourself actually calming down and becoming more alert when you take stimulants. i’ll recommend coffee, or an energy drink of your choice. Or tea! They will help you immensely, as having adhd is an issue of memory and how your brain is inclined to keep track of and record actions. Being more stimulated, more alert, tends to help in actually smoothing that over and keeping your actions contiguous in that damned goon brain lol.
But yeah, accomodate yourself. Take breaks if you have to. Just work with your own flow, and try to be mindful. Physical stimuli to help break you out of hyper fixations, or over focus will also help. Stretches, exercise, etcetera.
Edit:
Final advice. Just don’t -force- it. If you find yourself struggling with focus, that’s more than fine. What matters isn’t that you force yourself to find and meet an imaginary “standard” of what work flow works for you. Rather, it’s important to develop a relationship WITH your focus, and figure out what will work best for you. Struggle! If something doesn’t work? Change it. Piece by piece, and step by step.
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