The ADHD Writing Pattern Decoder

Stop chasing consistency. Answer 7 quick questions and find out how your brain actually writes — plus three starter strategies matched to it, straight from real Basecamp speakers.

Hi, fellow ADHD writer. For years I chased consistency — same time, same routine, same word count, every day. It never held. Not because I didn't want it enough. Because for most of us, consistency is a fiction.

What actually got me writing again wasn't more discipline. It was figuring out my own pattern and building around it instead of fighting it. That's the whole reason Basecamp to Brilliance exists.

I've coached ADHD writers since 2020, and after our first summit, every single attendee who filled out the survey said the same thing: they finally felt less alone.

I haven't "fixed" my own ADHD, for the record. Some weeks the guilt spiral still wins. But I've spent years learning what actually works for brains like ours — and that's what you're about to get a taste of.

Let's find your pattern.

— Susanne

Find Your Pattern

Question 1 of 7

1. When you sit down to write something new, what usually happens first?

I get a huge burst of energy and ideas — then it fades fast. I keep pushing it off until the guilt itself becomes the deadline. I get excited… about a completely different project instead. I rewrite the first line about twelve times before moving on.

2. Your best writing sessions tend to happen…

Right at the start of a new project, before the shine wears off. Late at night, when no one's expecting anything from you. Whenever something new and interesting hijacks your attention. During a rare window when you've told your inner critic to be quiet.

3. What does your inner critic say most often?

"Of course you quit. You always do." "You had all that time and did nothing with it. Typical." "You can't commit to anything. What's wrong with you?" "This is embarrassing. It's still not good enough."

4. Which describes your finished-vs-unfinished pile best?

A graveyard of amazing first three chapters. One dramatic all-nighter finish, then nothing for months. Six different projects, all still "in progress," all still loved. The same ten pages, polished within an inch of their life.

5. What derails you fastest?

The initial thrill wearing off. Nobody — including future-you — holding you to it. A shinier, newer idea walking by. Research or editing swallowing your drafting time whole.

6. If someone asked to read your writing right now, what would worry you most?

That you'll never finish it to show them. That you scrambled it together last-minute and it shows. That you'd rather show them your newest idea instead. That it's still not polished enough.

7. What would help you most right now?

A way to keep the spark going past week one. Permission to work with your actual rhythm, not against it. A way to follow every interesting idea without losing the thread. A way to stop editing long enough to actually draft.

Your result

Three starter strategies matched to your pattern:

🎬

Want to hear it explained live, from the summit stage? Get the clip of the Basecamp 2025 speaker who taught this exact strategy, straight to your inbox — free.

Pop your name and email in below and it's on its way.

Your pattern tells you HOW you work. It doesn't fix WHY the shame still shows up.

Knowing your pattern is step one. What actually makes it stick is matched strategies (you just got a taste), a community that gets it so you're not troubleshooting alone at 2am, and permission to stop measuring yourself by the wrong thing entirely.

That's exactly what 15 ADHD writers hand you over 3 days at Basecamp to Brilliance — the only summit built for writers whose brains work like yours.

Get on the Basecamp to Brilliance waitlist →

"I'm not a normal writer. I'm an ADHD writer — and an extraordinary one at that."

Susanne Schotanus is an ADHD writing coach for writers who've been told to just try harder. After building her own writing practice around consistency and watching it collapse over and over, she discovered predictability instead — and has spent the years since helping ADHD writers, from novelists to academics to bloggers, find the pattern that already works for their brain. She's the founder of Passionate Writer Coaching and creator of Basecamp to Brilliance, the annual summit for ADHDers who write. When she's not coaching or wrangling summit speakers, you'll find her forgetting to eat lunch mid-hyperfocus, same as the rest of us.

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