80. Writing with ADHD: Finding Joy, Focus, and Permission with Dr. Candice Stanfield Wiswell

In this conversation episode, I sit down with Dr. Candice Stanfield Wiswell, a writer, psychologist, and ADHD writing coach, to talk about what it means to build a joyful and sustainable writing life with ADHD. We’re speaking to writers who feel scattered, stuck in perfectionist loops, or frustrated by inconsistent progress.

What we’re exploring:

✨ ADHD isn’t a flaw in your writing life—it’s a different way of thinking that can fuel creativity and depth.
 ✨ Why typical writing routines don’t always work, and how to create flexible, menu-style options instead.
 ✨ The NICE framework (Novel, Interesting, Challenging, Extremely urgent) and how it can help you harness your brain’s natural rhythms.
 ✨ The role of body doubling, community, and self-compassion in making writing feel lighter.

What I want novelists with ADHD to remember:

Your brain isn’t broken—it’s brilliant. You don’t need rigid rules or harsh discipline to make progress. You need curiosity, permission, and practices that honor how your mind actually works. Writing with ADHD is not about fixing yourself; it’s about discovering sustainable ways to nurture your creativity and finish the stories on your heart.

🎙️Learn more about Dr. Candice Stanfield Wiswell at creativethrivecoaching.com

🎙️Learn more about my coaching and editing services at nicolemeier.com

Transcript

THE WHOLE WRITER EP 80 - Writing with ADHD with Dr. Candice Stanfield Wiswell

[00:00:00] Nicole Meier: Writers. This conversation today was truly eye-opening for me, and I think it's one of the most important discussions we need to be having today as creatives. That's because I'm joined by Dr. Candace Stanfield Wiswell, a writer, ADHD writing coach, and late diagnosed ADHD or with a PhD in psychology. So ever feel like writing should come more easily, but your brain has other plans.

[00:00:27] Nicole Meier: Dr. Wiswell gets it because she sees it every day in her clients and also experiences it herself. She helps neurodivergent writers step out of their heads and onto the page with warmth, humor, and science-backed strategies. She empowers writers to trust their voice, to take charge of their creative process and to build the joyful writing life they've always dreamed of.

[00:00:53] Nicole Meier: When she's not coaching or writing, you'll find her reading, dancing with her 4-year-old. Four sipping along, forgotten oat milk Latte still warm thanks to the temperature controlled mug. Gifted by her thoughtful husband. Please help me in welcoming Dr. Candace Stanfield Swell.

[00:01:17] Nicole Meier: Welcome to the whole writer, A place where we talk about what it means to show up as a writer, not just a better writer or a more productive writer, or a published writer, but a whole one. Someone who's grounded in their voice, in their community, in their creative path, even when the world tells them to hustle, compare, or conform.

[00:01:38] Nicole Meier: I'm Nicole Meier, a multi published author and book coach who believes that nurturing the person behind the page is just as important as refining the words on it. Each week we'll explore the terrain of riding life with honesty, warmth, and practical wisdom, creating space for you to write from a place of wholeness rather than depletion.

[00:01:58] Nicole Meier: Whether you're drafting your first manuscript or publishing your fifth book, you'll find conversation and companionship for the journey here. So settle in, bring your questions and your curiosity, and let's discover what it means to write and live with authenticity and purpose. Welcome on in everyone. I am so happy to have you here with me today.

[00:02:22] Nicole Meier: I am with Dr. Candace Stanfield Westwell, and we have had the pleasure of working together in the past, and she has evolved to not only be a writer, but she also now is supporting other writers. And I'm thrilled to be talking about our topic of writers who are balancing the journey of A DHD and their creativity.

[00:02:45] Nicole Meier: So welcome, Candace. 

[00:02:47] Candice Wiswell: Hi, Nicole. Thank you so much for having me on this podcast, longtime listener, first time guest. 

[00:02:54] Nicole Meier: I love that, and this is perfect timing because honestly, I am so thrilled about what you're doing. I genuinely know that this is something that's needed. I work with so many different kinds of writers, and sometimes there are learning differences.

[00:03:08] Nicole Meier: Sometimes there's thinking differences, and I feel like you're just the right person. To really address what the creative process looks like for people who maybe have some of those differences. But before we jump into that, could you share a little bit about yourself, how you came to specialize in helping writers with A DHD, and even what your own journey's been like as both a writer and someone with A DHD?

[00:03:32] Candice Wiswell: Yeah. Thank you so much, Nicole. So. I have a PhD in psychology. My concentration is in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. So a lot of my study and my research has centered around human information processing and how we think and learn differently, how we remember things, how we apply those to make actions in the world.

[00:03:57] Candice Wiswell: From a very early age, I started writing poetry. I had an English teacher who. Encouraged me back in junior high to send one of my poems out to be published, and I was shocked to see that it was accepted in an anthology. So I started to really believe in myself as a writer. I continued writing poetry. I mean, I still write poetry to this day.

[00:04:22] Candice Wiswell: I honestly think that writing poetry saved me during COVID. It was a very hard time for a lot of people. And poetry has been something for me to help me organize my thoughts, to express myself in ways that I was either incapable of expressing myself or afraid to due to criticism and through trial and error, I found my community of writers through this.

[00:04:48] Candice Wiswell: So I've also written in academia, so as I mentioned, I study psychology. And so a lot of publications there. And then I moved on to being a science communication strategist for a digital mental health company as well. And so being able to tell story through not just nonfiction writing, but also fiction writing have been great passions of mine over the years.

[00:05:12] Nicole Meier: Incredible. I mean, you came to it in such a unique way. I love that you shared. How poetry sort of saved you in a way, over the pandemic. We all had something that we clung onto, maybe even didn't realize that we needed it as badly as we did until we were all home and isolated. But can you talk a little bit more about the poetry?

[00:05:32] Nicole Meier: How did you experiment or was it just something you did for yourself every morning? Did you ever share it with anybody before the anthology? Yeah, so. 

[00:05:41] Candice Wiswell: It was something I actually hid away as a part of myself that was hidden for a really long time. I had notebooks scattered throughout the house, taped behind the washing machine, and wow, behind my bed, and there were just ways for me to like be just myself, authentic self without any judgment or having to explain the way that I wanted to express myself.

[00:06:05] Candice Wiswell: It wasn't until senior year of high school I got tricked into. Sharing some of my work. I had friends who were like, let's go do this thing. Let's go to a poetry reading. And they put my name on the paper, but not theirs. So I read. I was nervous, but I loved it. It was just exhilarating and it was so well received.

[00:06:26] Candice Wiswell: Everyone was so accepting and I was like, these are my people. I know. These are my people. Yeah, I kept doing it. I've been published in a few other places as well, and it's just something that. I love to experiment with it. I like to look at different forms and structures and just if I feel stuck in my writing, my everyday writing, I will write a poem about how I'm feeling or pick some keywords that you know, things in my environment and just like write about it.

[00:06:54] Candice Wiswell: And it just kind of like gets me started and gets the momentum going. Yeah, get those creative 

[00:07:00] Nicole Meier: juices flowing as I like to say. I love that you shared that. I bet there's people listening right now who also have hidden notebooks or journals with their writing slash expressing themselves, and I feel like you're giving them quiet permission to pull those out and maybe tell a friend, because it sounds like you did tell friends and then they encouraged you even though you didn't ask for that specific kind of encouragement.

[00:07:22] Nicole Meier: It's always surprising to find out the ways people are encouraging once you do share just a tiny bit about the fact that I'm a writer, you know? Yeah. Yeah, really incredible. Okay, so I am gonna jump forward here. You are a late diagnosed A DHD, if I can say that, which is actually incredibly common, especially for women.

[00:07:46] Nicole Meier: So can you share what that discovery process was like for you? Did getting diagnosed change how you understood your own writing struggles or even your creative process? 

[00:07:56] Candice Wiswell: Yeah, so I actually was not diagnosed until after I finished my PhD and had my daughter. After having her, I realized I was barely keeping it together to begin with.

[00:08:09] Candice Wiswell: I was overworking myself as many women do, not just women, but men as well, but. We have a lot of caregiving responsibilities that are kind of thrust upon us in society and in our relationships, and not just for our children, but also, you know, if your parent is aging or a partner is ill. And I realized that my quirks about how I process information, it was always normal to me because it was all I ever knew.

[00:08:40] Candice Wiswell: And then I have to admit, I've had friends over the years saying, I think you might have a DHD, or, you know, there's social media aspect a lot of people are discovering through social media. Oh wait, that could be a DHD. I started taking it more seriously and when I hit a roadblock with myself, I just, you know, there are mornings where I didn't wanna do anything.

[00:09:00] Candice Wiswell: I just felt so overwhelmed and so burnt out from pushing past my limits and feeling like I had these. Expectations that I had to meet. And they weren't even realistic expectations for me. They were just expectations that I just imagined were what I needed to do. And I've heard a lot of women say that as a lot of writers say that, like they feel like they have to have this ideal writer routine.

[00:09:25] Candice Wiswell: I to wake up at 5:00 AM I have to write 10,000 words or something crazy and it's just not realistic. It's when I was finally diagnosed, I realized, oh. This makes a lot of sense. I'm not lazy. I heard growing up you have a lot of potential, but you're just not applying yourself. It's like I'm though, right?

[00:09:46] Candice Wiswell: I'm applying myself way more than what is sustainable. And I started to recognize that there were shifts in my energy. Like some days I had more energy, some days I had lower energy, and it took a lot of work to accept that. I'm not always gonna be running on full speed ahead every single day. There are times where I need to give myself permission to slow down, and that's something I try to advocate my clients.

[00:10:14] Candice Wiswell: We try to create a minimum viable writing routine where they look at their energy levels, they track them, they track how their challenges manifest into their writing. What their strengths are and their values and what they wanna lean into, and create a plan for those low energy days, those low targets, just something really small that they can celebrate after they've reached it.

[00:10:38] Candice Wiswell: And instead of shooting for the moon and like I wrote 20,000 words last week, I should do it again this week. Uh, it'd be great if we could, but we're not machines. 

[00:10:48] Nicole Meier: Yeah. Interesting. Okay, so I have so many questions that are coming up. I'm happy you shared that because. I used the word permission earlier in this interview, but you are giving people permission to tap into identifying, knowing and understanding what's right for them.

[00:11:05] Nicole Meier: Yes. I do hear that a lot from writers saying, well, everyone else seems to get up at 5:00 AM and everyone else seems to be writing a thousand words a day. Why can't I? And the truth is, we're not all the same. And like you said, we're not machines. So you're giving people permission to tap back into their intuition.

[00:11:20] Nicole Meier: Know yourself, know yourself. Of what works for you and what doesn't in the smallest and simplest of ways. So before we jump into a couple telltale signs for people who might be curious about themselves and A-D-H-D-I do kind of want to stay on the track of how did this change your writing process? How did it change your creative process?

[00:11:42] Nicole Meier: 'cause I know that you're also writing more than just poetry these days. 

[00:11:46] Candice Wiswell: Yes. Yeah. I'm working on my debut novel. It's one of the reasons how you and I got connected. So for me, how it's changed is that I've recognized that individuals who are neurodivergent, particularly individuals with A DHD, we tend to run on a more interest-based nervous system versus someone who may be neurotypical, who runs on an importance nervous system.

[00:12:11] Candice Wiswell: So for importance, it's things that these are priorities, whether it's a priority for yourself or someone else's. Set the priority, you know, it's important. It has to be done. You know, there are consequences if you don't do it on time, and so you just do it with somebody who's interest-based, has an interest-based nervous system.

[00:12:29] Candice Wiswell: They know that it's important and they want to get it done, and it's oftentimes not a struggle with motivation. It's not necessarily an issue with motivation. It's more of an issue with task initiation. I recognize that within myself as well, so with an interest-based nervous system. There's a framework developed by a physician called Dr.

[00:12:53] Candice Wiswell: William Dodson Inu I see in you. I like it to be nice 'cause it's just easier to remember in ICE. So for the nice framework, it would be something that is novel, interesting, challenging, or extremely urgent. So waiting until the last minute to write a paper is something that I'm very much known for. Not gonna lie.

[00:13:17] Candice Wiswell: If it's challenging to a point where you work with a buddy, like, oh, let's try to reach this deadline by a certain time. Or you can make it more interesting by looking up a little something extra when it comes to researching, making sure you don't get into a research rabbit hole while you're doing it.

[00:13:34] Candice Wiswell: 'cause that can prevent you from drafting forward or making it more novel. So moving to a different place in your home, going to a coffee shop you've always wanted to go to or. Just something that's gonna make it a little bit different, feel a little different. So I advocate for creating routines because it lowers the cognitive load, because that's what's helped me, and that's what research shows helps.

[00:13:59] Candice Wiswell: But sometimes you can feel like you're in a bit of a rut. And so it's a good idea to kind of create a few different options for yourself. Like a menu of options of, okay, if I don't wanna write here today, where do I wanna write? If I like getting a pastry, like a chocolate pastry is like my favorite thing to do and a good latte, you know, like, can I make it at home or can I, you know, go get it somewhere, bring it back home.

[00:14:23] Candice Wiswell: Do I want to eat at the coffee shop? So just kind of creating like a menu so you don't have to think about it in the moment is really gonna be helpful. It's something that I do. Yeah, that's really good. 

[00:14:34] Nicole Meier: So. Can you just, I like the NICE acronym, so can you just repeat for those listening, I know that there's certain people probably taking some notes right now.

[00:14:42] Nicole Meier: Repeat what the NICE stands for one more time. 

[00:14:45] Candice Wiswell: Yeah, so NICE stands for novel. Interesting challenge or challenging and extremely urgent. Okay. And would 

[00:14:55] Nicole Meier: my menu of sorts include. You know, bullet point or thought on each of those. So when I am feeling the pressure, when I'm feeling like I want to do something, but I just can't come to it, would I go to this list?

[00:15:10] Candice Wiswell: I would recommend it. I don't know about other individuals, although I have heard some other people say this, but for me personally, my, I'm just exhausted. Just the idea of taking on a big task, even if it's something I really wanna do, initiating that task can feel really difficult. When I have this list in front of me, I don't have to think about it as much.

[00:15:31] Candice Wiswell: It makes me less stressed out. I just go, okay, boom, boom, boom, boom. I have these options. These have worked in the past. Let me try mixing it up a little bit. Let me go through this. I know some people who have spinner wheels Oh, wow. To them to help them decide what to do that day. 'cause they just want something fresh, something different.

[00:15:48] Candice Wiswell: Yeah. 

[00:15:48] Nicole Meier: Yeah. That's really insightful. Okay, so like I said, I'm sure there's people taking notes right now. Their ears are perked up thinking, oh, this might be a way for me to get through my creative process. Let's even back it up a little bit for those people listening. Are there telltale signs for novelists specifically or, or memoirists or poets out there who are listening who might be wondering more about A DHD?

[00:16:15] Nicole Meier: How does it uniquely show up in the writing process? 

[00:16:21] Candice Wiswell: So you're rewriting that sentence over and over again because it doesn't quote unquote feel just right. That's perfectionism. And that's something that we tend to get into a perfectionist loop. So instead of writing for, it's like if I don't get the sentence right, ah, it's not gonna be great.

[00:16:38] Candice Wiswell: But when you realize after continuing to write that, that sentence. May not even, you know, may have to cut that sentence. You know it, you realize, oh wait, that sentence I ached and pained over. Oh, it doesn't even fit here anymore. And I know killing your darlings is a big thing. Like you don't wanna cut out the words.

[00:16:57] Candice Wiswell: You love something I do to ease the pain. 'cause I'll get like a physical tinge of pain, but I have to cut that sentence out that I love so much. I will copy it and move it over to a Word document, for example, and just like hold onto it later. And that might actually, that sparked poems, that sparked short stories.

[00:17:15] Candice Wiswell: Just having that sentence, that feeling that I had around its initial creation. So it's not that you have to throw these things out, you can keep them, they just need to be purposed in a different way. Some telltale signs in some novelists for A DHD is, in addition to the perfectionism aspect, is getting stuck in the exciting ideation phase.

[00:17:39] Candice Wiswell: So getting really amped up about the idea, daydreaming about it. It's just so fun and it is really good for writing generation, but if you're not capturing it, it can get lost. You know, life gets in the way. So. Something I do is I do voice memos. I use the notes app, I write it down, just whatever I can get to the fastest.

[00:17:59] Candice Wiswell: I've heard some individuals say that just outlining it and like, okay, it's done. I know how it's gonna end. So I don't feel like writing the story further, but it's like, but there's so much more that can be built out from that. Give it a chance. Give those characters a chance to live and breathe. And then there's also the aspect of over researching, using it as a form of pseudo productivity.

[00:18:24] Candice Wiswell: Research has a great place, it's necessary, especially for historical fiction, but at a certain point we can sometimes use research as a way of, oh, I'm writing. Okay. What are you writing? Oh, I'm still researching. Don't you have 50 pages of research? You know, let's write a little bit of from that research, and then if we feel later, we need to fill in the blanks.

[00:18:46] Candice Wiswell: Put a mark in your documentation. Maybe I like to use brackets and say, enter such and such here, or double check this. I'll put comments like word tracks, like word track changes and word. And so those are different ways to kind of overcome that, but. There's the looking at the project as this giant amorphous blob, like, you know, you wanna write this story, but it feels too big to tackle.

[00:19:09] Candice Wiswell: So breaking it up into small, manageable steps. Even something as small as turning on the laptop and opening the document and reading the last paragraph that you wrote, that can just really get the brain juices going and help you get to writing negative self-talk is a big one. A lot of writers struggle with that, especially writers with A DHD.

[00:19:31] Candice Wiswell: So feeling ashamed about being inconsistent with writing is a huge issue that I see in a lot of clients as well as myself. It can make it more difficult to restart the writing process because if you feel like, oh, I'm inconsistent, what am I even gonna get done today? You don't know what you're gonna get done because you haven't tried it yet.

[00:19:51] Candice Wiswell: So. Again, the task initiation is really the biggest struggle, not necessarily motivation. 

[00:19:58] Nicole Meier: I am so, I mean, I am nodding. The listeners can't see us, but we're on Zoom. I am nodding and nodding and nodding because all of the things that you're mentioning, Candace, are things that I've seen with writers that I have worked with, and one of the things that came up when you were talking about that was.

[00:20:16] Nicole Meier: A few writers I can remember from years ago that would get so focused and excited on planning and strategy calls about their plot. But then they would have a call with me one week later and they would've redone the whole plot, and the following week they would've redone it again. So they kept redoing the story premise without actually writing forward, and my heart would break because they had started off with such a strong plot, but they just kept reiterating and reiterating.

[00:20:46] Nicole Meier: Another one, like you said, was coming back and revising the same sentence or the same paragraph over and over, and they wanted to get out of that loop, but they didn't know how. Right? Yeah. 

[00:20:58] Candice Wiswell: Yeah. That's a big struggle. It's important to note that these are not character flaws at all. There is no moral failing in this.

[00:21:05] Candice Wiswell: This is just something that is a bit challenging. We want to. We wanna appear like we have it all together and many of us do. And it's not to say that having it all together is the way to be, it's just everybody's different regardless of your neuro type. And you have to really focus on what works best for you.

[00:21:27] Candice Wiswell: And everybody has their own way. And what may have worked last week may not work next week. And that's why having like a menu or some sort of routine is gonna be really helpful. 

[00:21:40] Nicole Meier: Yeah, let's stay on that thread. I am hoping people listening that feel like maybe some of the things that you're talking about could apply to them.

[00:21:48] Nicole Meier: Are breathing a sigh of relief right now. This is not a flaw. It's not a character flaw. It doesn't mean you're not meant to be creative. It doesn't mean you're not going to finish that book that you're working on. It just means you work differently. So. Let's stay on the thread and talk about how writers can work with their A DHD rather than fighting against it.

[00:22:11] Candice Wiswell: Yeah, so I mentioned that task initiation can be a challenge. So with an A DHD thinker, we tend to think nonlinearly, and that can make for excellent creative problem solving, being able to see things from completely different angles. We need to recognize that sometimes having rigid rules can trigger the resistance.

[00:22:33] Candice Wiswell: It can make it difficult to sit down and write. And having a flexible plan, something that's varied, strategies that respect our fluctuating energies is really important. That traditional advice of just like, just focus, just get it done. It's just not gonna work. I mentioned we're not machines. Um, nobody's a machine.

[00:22:54] Candice Wiswell: We're all human here. So some other things that I've worked of course, is breaking the bigger tasks into smaller chunks, something that is more realistic and keeping in mind that our energy can fluctuate from day to day and even within a single day. So if we have ourselves like a menu style writing routine that's about two to four points, or two to four options based on our mood or energy, we can pick through that, it gives less cognitive load and it helps us feel more empowered.

[00:23:25] Candice Wiswell: External accountability. So body doubling I know is a huge thing in the A DHD world. The person doesn't even need to be someone you know. I know there are apps for doing this, like focus Made is something I've used in the past. You just, the first five minutes you say, Hey, I'm doing this, I'm doing that.

[00:23:46] Candice Wiswell: And then you can choose to keep your camera on or off and then you write. And when the time is up, you come back together and check in and say, okay. How did it go? So there are people who have done yoga during that time. There are people who have done their dishes, you know, they don't have to be doing the same task as you.

[00:24:03] Candice Wiswell: Uh, someone like me who's a bit more extroverted, COVID was very difficult for me because I actually had a writing group we wrote in person. I worked in my dissertation, like my comprehensive exams and my dissertation during that time. And I turned to YouTube and I did those write with me videos where.

[00:24:23] Candice Wiswell: It runs on the Pomodoro technique. So it was like 50 minutes of writing and you just hear somebody clicky clacking on their keyboard and playing lo-fi chill music. And then it would do like ding, and then it would be like a 10 minute break, and then it would ding again. Then it'd go right back to another 50 minutes.

[00:24:40] Candice Wiswell: That was so helpful. That really in helps me a lot. Yeah. Incredible. And then of course. Dipping into that nice framework, looking at something that can make it more novel or more interesting, pairing it with something that's going to boost dopamine, which is something that we tend to not have as much as in our brains.

[00:24:58] Candice Wiswell: With A DHD. We have neurotransmitter differences and instead of trying to force ourselves into this box, we need to recognize that we just work a little differently. And that's okay. 

[00:25:10] Nicole Meier: Yeah. Okay. Such beautiful nuggets of wisdom. Candace, I really, you have opened my eyes to things I've noticed, things I've wondered about, but not quite been able to understand the why behind everything.

[00:25:26] Nicole Meier: And you've really opened my eyes to a lot of this. So thank you. And I'm guessing you're doing the same for people listening right now. Let's go into something that I know you have talked about before, which is you've emphasized building a joyful writing life, which feels especially important for a DH writers because they might carry shame around their creative struggles.

[00:25:48] Nicole Meier: So let's talk about how you specifically help clients rediscover joy in their writing and their creative process. You know, when they've typically been beating themselves up for not being quote, productive enough, 

[00:26:00] Candice Wiswell: right? So shame is, it's one of the biggest killers of creativity for A DHD writers and joy really matters in the sense that when we're writing, if we feel too much pressure or we feel like things are too rigid, that we have to fit in with some certain mold or parameter.

[00:26:20] Candice Wiswell: It can make us feel like we risk failing because we think a little differently. And so if we try to fit ourselves within this box, we feel sometimes like, oh, what's the point of even writing? I'm not gonna do well. And that's ludicrous in the sense that there are so many people that need to hear what only you can write.

[00:26:41] Candice Wiswell: There are a lot of people who are, I mean, the 20% of the world's population is neurodivergent. That's like one in five or one in six people or something like that. And like 61% of. Adults with a DHD, particularly women we're not diagnosed until their thirties, forties, and even fifties. So there are, there are a lot of people out there that don't realize that they have a, a learning or thinking difference or a neurodivergent.

[00:27:07] Candice Wiswell: So your unique perspective can really resonate and connect with a reader who needs to hear your words, even if your character isn't neurodivergent. It's being written from someone's perspective, who lived that experience? That can really make all the difference for someone when they connect to your work.

[00:27:27] Candice Wiswell: So putting that pressure on ourselves can force us to feel disengaged and focusing on not just ourselves, but how we can help others can be very joyful. Joy can fuel our curiosity. It can fuel play and motivation. It can help us to wanna do the work. When it feels good, we wanna do more of it. When it feels bad, you wanna do less of it.

[00:27:51] Candice Wiswell: And the ways that I try to help some of my clients rediscover their joy is have them recognize their small wins, celebrate them. That helps build momentum, which helps build confidence in yourself and your abilities as being a writer and not just in your writing life, but it can bleed over into other aspects of your life as well.

[00:28:14] Candice Wiswell: I help them with giving themselves permission to adapt their process without feeling guilty. Separating self-worth from productivity is a really big thing. We live in a high productivity culture and it's hard to look at a society that rewards high output. Writing is a knowledge based career, and what you put into it is not always what you get out of it financially or monetarily, but emotionally, you know, like getting that out an achievement.

[00:28:46] Candice Wiswell: It just, it's just something that money cannot buy. Joy in writing. A joyful writing life. Looks like you're finishing projects without burning out, actually finishing projects, you know? So relatable. Yeah. Restarting the next day after you had a bad day. Before, you know, like you weren't as productive the day before.

[00:29:07] Candice Wiswell: Oh, well, today's a new helping to recognize and give yourself grace without feeling guilty about it, leaving the desk feeling energized instead of depleted. Also advocating for yourself, saying no to things. It's a very difficult thing to do. A lot of individuals with A DHD were self-diagnosed. People pleasers, not just us, but women in society, right?

[00:29:31] Candice Wiswell: And we feel like we have to help others and we tend to overlook our own needs and advocating for ourselves and speaking up and saying nope to things that are gonna deplete our energy. It's really important because every day we have very limited energy. Every day. The amount of energy that we arrive with differs.

[00:29:50] Candice Wiswell: So honoring that can lead to a joyful writing life. 

[00:29:55] Nicole Meier: I love all of that. I mean, honestly, it's so relatable whether we identify as a DHD or we don't. So much of what you said is relatable about the hustle culture and the feeling self-worth connected to productivity and showing up to the creative process with a limited amount of energy and identifying.

[00:30:15] Nicole Meier: This is my day, or this may not be my day. I mean, all of those things, again, I go back to the same word I keep repeating over and over is permission. Give yourself permission to identify, acknowledge, and then care for yourself. So this is all just golden. I love everything you're saying, Candace, and I want people to have the opportunity to know how to connect with you, how you work with writers.

[00:30:39] Nicole Meier: So let's do it the other way around. Let's have you first talk about how you work with writers and then tell people where they can find you. 

[00:30:45] Candice Wiswell: Yeah, so how I work with writers is I help them in a multitude of ways, so I can help them with creating a writing routine that honors their own unique patterns and strengths, and helping them to alleviate some of the mental load and alleviate some of the resistance that might come to initiating the task of writing.

[00:31:08] Candice Wiswell: I also help them to uncover some of the negative self-talk. Some of the aspects of A DHD that they may not be aware of how it arrives to the writing process. I help them to gain confidence in their own abilities and to help them get clear on their story idea so that they can focus on it and write in a way that is clear and enjoyable for them.

[00:31:36] Candice Wiswell: And I help them basically finish their projects without burning out. 

[00:31:41] Nicole Meier: Okay. That sounds amazing. Do you work with writers in a one-on-one capacity or do you have a group 

[00:31:46] Candice Wiswell: program? I work with writers on the one-on-one capacity, but I am going to start offering a group program starting in October 1st, and it's gonna run until right before Thanksgiving, and it's an eight week program.

[00:32:03] Candice Wiswell: It's the first round of it. It's called the focused A DHD writer, and it's all about creating focus and accountability and momentum so that writers can finish their projects without burning out. One of the things about A DHD is that we really thrive through community and writers in general thrive through community, honestly, but in this sense, you know, there's no need to mask or.

[00:32:28] Candice Wiswell: You know, you can be more of your authentic self in this group, so a lot of people know the struggles that you're going through, and so it's really important to have this community, 

[00:32:37] Nicole Meier: incredible. Candace, tell people how they can find you, because I know there's gonna be people listening who wanna sign up for that program.

[00:32:44] Candice Wiswell: Yeah, so my website is Creative Thrive Coaching. That's C-R-E-A-T-I-V-E-T-H-R-I-V-E coaching.com. And. You can go on there to find out more information about the services I offer, as well as the group coaching program, the focused A DHD writer that's coming up starting October 1st. I'm also on Instagram at Creative Thrive Coaching, and I haven't done anything with it yet, but I also have a YouTube channel, so look out for that in the future 

[00:33:22] Nicole Meier: to be continued.

[00:33:23] Nicole Meier: I love it. Thank you so much, Candace. I will put all of this in the show notes so people can just click on the link and find you. I so appreciate you being here today and sharing all of your wisdom. You personally have to keep me updated on your writing, okay? Yeah, definitely. Thank you, Nicole. Okay everybody, thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next week on the Whole writer.

[00:33:49] Nicole Meier: If you want to check out my coaching programs for fiction writers, visit nicolemeier.com. That's M-E-I-E-R. And if you like this episode, I'd love you to take a minute to leave a rating and review for this podcast. This will help more writers like you to discover the show and to get going on their writing journey.

[00:34:10] Nicole Meier: Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, happy writing everyone.