The first of three Four-letter words that scare writers with ADHD

I confess there was a time when three words threatened me more than any four- lettered words I've heard or used. The words are organization, schedule, and goal. All three are required to write a novel, or for that matter,  necessary to complete any project. The key word being complete.


When I was teaching, I stopped by a colleague's room one morning before class. During our chat my eyes kept shifting to her desk. The top was covered with piles of papers, stacks of books, scraps of paper with notes, coffee cups in various stages of use, scissors, pens, pencils, and a half-eaten tuna sandwich. I couldn't determine what was in the second layer, but I visualized a nest of spiders or a cockroach colony. She stopped in the middle of our conversation to say, "I know you think my desk is a mess, but I know exactly where everything is." Seems like every one who avoids organization uses the same line.


The lady was right. Without doubt, everything she needed was somewhere in that pile on her desk. Perhaps the attendance report that she swore the office had lost. Maybe the note from the parent requesting her daughter not take the bus home because her mother was picking her up.


For the writer it could be the outline and synopsis of a new novel scratched out in the middle of the night, a contract proposal, or the napkin with the name and contact number of the lady you met at the conference who can get your manuscript in the hands of a prestigious editor.