Blog Post | The Importance of Vomiting in Writing
The Importance of Vomiting in Writing
In college, I haaaaated writing papers. My typical habit would go like this. I’d get the writing assignment from the professor:
…then I’d forget about it for a few days
…then I’d remember it again and start to worry
…then I’d forget again
…then anytime I’d remember, I would panic at the thought of sitting at my computer and trying to start
…I’d constantly be thinking about how I was not starting my paper – in classes, at choir practice, and even social activities were no relief from the constant hum of berating myself for my inaction
…this lasted for weeks until the night before the assignment was due.
Inevitably I’d be at such a high rate of panic and stress by then that I’d break down crying and call my mom. She’d listen patiently while I sobbed and told her about all of my concerns and what I was thinking about writing. By the end of our conversation, I would always feel better and would get started after we talked, writing until the early hours of the morning.
Did you notice the catalyst that actually got me to write my paper?
It wasn’t all the worrying and stressing I did. It was the fact that I got to word vomit to my mom on the phone (thanks, mom!). By her allowing me to talk out loud about all that was going on in my head, I was actually working on my paper. Hearing myself talk helped me get an overall picture of what I was going to write and get clarity on my next steps.
Because ADHD brains have trouble with Working Memory, it makes it hard for us to 1) brainstorm all of our content; 2) remember all we brainstormed; 3) put it in chronological order; and 4) turn it into complete sentences, all inside of our heads. This is why sitting down at a computer to write can be excruciating for ADHD students. Instead, we’ve got to do those one at a time and OUTSIDE of our heads.
The stressing and worrying I was doing was keeping me in a vicious loop. I was not actually doing productive thinking inside of my head (even though it felt like I was).
I can’t emphasize enough the step of word vomiting everything out of your head first. This can look like talking to a parent, chatting with a professor after class, texting a roommate, or sitting on the bus to school and writing down anything that comes to mind. Talking out loud IS working on your paper!
Here’s my writing process now (including what I used to get this blog post written!)
- Notice the few initial topic ideas that I have in mind.
- Word vomit out loud all of those ideas to my co-workers and take notes on what I hear myself say
- Continue to word vomit any and all ideas on blank printer paper – a mix of incomplete sentences, short bullet points, and arrows connecting related ideas.
- Then observe the ideas from a higher level, marking which ones are the intro, middle, and end.
- Write a very sloppy rough draft (still on blank printer paper).
- Make edits to the draft.
- ONLY THEN do I allow myself to type what I wrote onto a computer screen.
Writing is a messy process! The theme I notice with myself and my ADHD clients is that writing ends with typing on a computer, it does not start there. So the next time you avoid writing, go TALK to someone about it. Complaining still counts as talking! Tell them all of your ideas (word vomit), and then write down what you say. Try it out! What have you got to lose?
Riley Karbon, PCAC
ADHD Coach | Center For Living Well with ADHD, LLC
