Sometimes imaginative people display behavior similar to that of people with ADD. I know I do. I'm easily distracted by something that has 'scope for the imagination' (as Anne of Green Gables would say).
But I've realized recently writers can often get the opposite of ADD, and it's because of their creativity: tunnel vision.
Tunnel vision is like looking through a paper-towel tube: you don't see anything on the sides. You only see what's right in front of you. For focus, that's a good thing. Focus on our writing is great. It keeps us going and helps drag us through writer's block, writer's angst and those I-has-a-dumb days.
But extra super focus on writing happens often as well. As Sara King put it on her blog, the opposite of ADD: Interrupt Me And Receive A Spoon Through The Eye.
Life is what we write about. We need to live it.
Tunnel vision is great for focusing on something that needs to get done. But make sure you have someone around to snap you out of it.
Someone once asked me "So what do you like to do other than writing?" and I hadn't a clue. That's when I realized I needed to put away my writing more often and get out.
It almost seems like there should be an annual holiday when writer's abstain from writing anything, even e-mails. *shudder* That sounds
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