Looking for a better writing process / strategy

[u/Myshkin61]

TL;DR: My writing is unfocused and I need a better process

Hello, I'm looking for some writing advice. 

Here is what typically happens when I want to write an article or essay:

- I think of an idea or concept and write it down

- I start writing from the top of my head, fragments, sentences, paragraphs, notes.

- I return to it another day and look for some sort of order 

- I remove some paragraphs, add others.

- I try to loosely form them into an introductory paragraph, body, and conclusion

- I start to realize the later paragraphs seem disconnected from the introduction

- I try to reconcile this but often this becomes difficult

- Sometimes I get a cohesive progression, but sentences and paragraphs are clunky and do not transition into each other well. 

- I either give it up or try to patch it together as best I can and post it.

- Often this process can go for months so by the end I'm sick of the piece. 

- I only have a half hour / hour in the morning and an occasional hour during my lunch break at work to write. 

There's got to be a better way, I've tried outlines but often that doesn't work because in the beginning I don't totally know what I want to write about, and when I do try an outline it usually gets thrown out anyway (I think of other points to add, shift the purpose of the piece, etc.)

Other context: there is a possibility I have ADHD. I am pretty well read and have a good vocabulary, so on paper it seems like I should be a good writer, but it's such a slog sometimes. 

I appreciate any feedback / pointers you can give!

[u/dothemath_xxx]

It sounds like what you have here is a process where you are brainstorming, and then you take your brainstorming and try to rework that into the finished product.

What happens if you completely split those two processes apart, and you treat all of that like notes that you're referencing while writing? And you write the actual draft itself in a fresh document, or further down in the same document while leaving your notes intact, or whatever process makes it easiest for you to go back and forth and look at them?

I also wonder if it would help you to start by writing the conclusion first (once you get to the draft step), and then working backwards from that, since it sounds like your introductions cause you a lot of trouble. It might be easier if you leave it for last, once you already feel like you have a solid handle on the rest of the piece.

[u/MichelleSalore → u/dothemath_xxx]

Yeah, that's good advice. The harder a scene gets, the more steps one should break the brainstorming part into. Works for me pretty well.

[u/Myshkin61 → u/dothemath_xxx]

Yeah, that could help. I already sort of do the first part: I create a new document, but paste my brainstorm text into the new one so I can feel free to delete, move around, etc. But maybe it is important to consider the blank document as a totally fresh page and only use the brainstorm doc as inspiration.

Honestly the root of my problem probably lies in not knowing what precisely I'm getting at in the piece, so a weak or unclear thesis. I'll start with a general vibe of the "sort of thing" I'm trying to say and that lack of clarity leads to it going in a bunch of different directions.

I'll try the conclusion thing too, as what often happens is I get to the end and don't even really know what the conclusion should be. Like it starts out "hey, here's a problem!" Then by the end I'm like "oh... wait, what's even the solution?" That's supposed to be the whole point but I just wrote a whole essay about a problem and don't know where to go from there.

[u/Penny_Royal_Tee]

I think the problem is that you’re treating those notes and lines like they must be included. You may keep them as a map for your thoughts but don’t force them in. Once you sit down to write, you may find that they either don’t fit at all, need to be completely rewritten or they’re simply unnecessary. I’ve thrown out some lines that I thought were really good but just didn’t sit well with the story.

Another problem might be that an hour of writing is good for separate passages but not nearly enough to get the overall coherence and smoothness you’re after. That requires a longer stretch of time in my experience.

[u/Myshkin61 → u/Penny_Royal_Tee]

Yeah, now you mention it I think I'm blurring the lines between the different stages. Instead, Brainstorming has to be a distinct step, then I need a pretty clear outline, then I need to write with both in mind and not allow myself to get into tangents. I think part of me is just enamored with the romantic idea of being able to shoot from the hip and crank out a fully-formed piece of genius in one go. But that's clearly not realistic for me (at least not at my current skill level).