{"id":235,"date":"2014-08-08T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T13:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/?p=235"},"modified":"2015-09-24T17:50:54","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T17:50:54","slug":"embrace-your-attention-issues-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/?p=235","title":{"rendered":"Embrace Your Attention Issues: Terese Ramin Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The bar. Again.<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I met Terese Ramin at my first writers’ conference. Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling 2012 to be exact. I was loitering at the bar waiting to register. I noticed Terese’s conference badge, and struck up a conversation. She was presenting at the conference. We spent
\nmost of the evening laughing, talking, and getting to know each other over
\nfries and good beer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Terese is gracious,
\nencouraging, and supportive. She is also has ADD\/ADHD, and is a successful novelist, and editor. She very kindly agreed to do an interview for\u00a0this blog.\u00a0 I have enjoyed Terese’s books. \u00a0\u00a0This is the link to Terese’s Amazon page.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Her biography follows the interview.<\/div>\n
\n

1. When were
\nyou diagnosed with ADD\/ADHD?<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0Terese: **I
\nwas officially diagnosed with ADD in 1996 when I took my son for diagnosis at
\nhis high school\u2019s request. I took the test with him to be supportive.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
2.
\nWas there a specific event that caused you to seek a diagnosis?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese:**My
\nson\u2019s high school requested that he be tested (and put on medication).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
3.
\nDo you think having a diagnosis helped?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese: **Yes,
\nit helped *me* realize what had always held me back \/ been \u201cwrong\u201d with me, and
\nwhy there were \u201cbad conduct\u201d marks on my school records. Girls didn\u2019t have
\nADD\/ADHD when I was in grade school.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
4.
\nHave you faced any discrimination because of your diagnosis?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese: **No.
\nAs an adult, the only people who know about my ADD\/ADHD are those I choose to
\ntell. And since being ADD\/ADHD affects my entire life, I let people know. My
\nson, on the other hand, didn\u2019t want people to know, didn\u2019t want to take meds,
\netc., because it would have labeled him in high school as \u201cone of those kids\u201d
\nwho got called out of class to take a prescription medication. We worked with
\nhis ADD\/ADHD in other ways and, boy, am I glad! He\u2019s very successful as a
\nteacher now.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
5.
\nHow did you organize\/ focus yourself to write books?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese: **When
\nwas first diagnosed, I saw a therapist who gave me suggestions to help keep me
\nfocused \u2013 creating a CD that looped with the question \u201cAre you on task?\u201d played
\nat 5 and 10 minutes \u00a0intervals.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I
\nalso used a CD called High Focus<\/i> that essentially
\nplays white noise. It was highly effective, especially played softly. I also
\nused guided meditation and a couple of \u201cIn the Zone\u201d CDs that are used to help
\nathletes maintain focus while they work out.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
6.
\nWhat is the biggest challenge for you when writing a novel?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese: **Oh
\nman. <G> For writing a novel, I need to get to the place in the book
\nwhere I can go into hyper-focus. Hyper-focus is something I\u2019m good at \u2013 as long
\nas I\u2019m being stimulated by what I do, or as long as what I\u2019m doing is a
\nrelatively simple, repetitive task (I\u2019m a great editor due to hyper-focus, and
\nI\u2019m pretty good at detail work \u2013 as long my brain doesn\u2019t decide the details
\nare boring.) Boredom is my biggest problem.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Another
\nthing that works is for me to be able to get up and wander around doing simple,
\nnon-thinking tasks as I write \u2013 taking care of the laundry, loading the
\ndishwasher, dusting, etc. Those are things I hate to do, but when I do them
\nduring the process of working on a novel, I don\u2019t have to come out of the
\n\u201czone\u201d or<\/i> the story to do them. Doing
\nsimple tasks allows me to daydream the next line, paragraph, or scene, and
\nreturn to the computer able to write a few more pages.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
7.
\nAre you an Outliner or Pantser?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese: **HA!
\nI wish I could outline a novel or create a beat sheet, then just fill in the
\nblanks on the pages. The moment I start to do that, my brain screams \u201clunch!\u201d
\nand refuses to budge \u2013 it\u2019s that boredom thing or the restless ADHD thing
\nkicking in: an outline causes me to tell the story to myself, which means I\u2019ve
\nalready written it, which means \u201cbored now\u201d when it comes to trying to write
\nall 70-85,000 words.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
To
\ncounter this, I give myself a blurb to remind myself where I need to get to
\nfrom here, post that on the wall where I can see it, and slowly make my way
\ntoward the end goal: a completed novel.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
8.
\nHow do you handle the distraction of the internet?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese: **Badly.
\nI have a routine of getting up in the morning, handling my email, reading the
\nonline news, doing a little Facebook \/ Twitter \/ social media to keep my name
\nout there, but that means I also use up my best creative time. I might be
\nfinished with all of those internet things by 8 a.m., but then the dogs need
\nattention, there are dirty dishes that need attention, the laundry needs to go
\ninto the dryer, etc. It would be far better for me to revise that routine and
\nstart with writing, but it takes a long time for me to create a routine that
\nworks for me. It\u2019s much easier to fall back on the routine I have. The bottom
\nline is that I\u2019m much much<\/i> more productive
\nif I follow a daily routine, but creating the right<\/i> routine takes thought and discipline that I sometimes don\u2019t
\nhave.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
9.
\nDo you think that it would have been helpful to be diagnosed at an earlier age?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese:**Possibly,
\nin today\u2019s climate, yes. Back when I was growing up? Maybe \u2013 at least then my
\nparents and teachers would have understood the reason for why I was the way I
\nwas. But being diagnosed earlier \u2013 especially back in a time when using
\nADD\/ADHD medication properly was still pretty new \u2013 might also have meant being
\nmedicated, which brings up a whole new world of issues.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
10.
\nWhat advice would you give writers struggling with attention issues?<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
Terese: **Embrace
\nyour attention issues. I look at my son who\u2019s always done seven or eight things
\nat the same time \u2013 and that worked for him. When he was in school, if he wasn\u2019t
\nlistening to at least one sporting event, playing the guitar (or the bassoon,
\nor something), reading a book, talking on the phone, trolling the internet AND
\ndoing his homework, I knew he wasn\u2019t getting his schoolwork done. He\u2019s never
\nneeded to be medicated and I\u2019m proud of the man he\u2019s become.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
But
\nI also look at the way he innately handled his ADD\/ADHD and I realize that my
\nown process of staying in the zone by doing housework while I\u2019m writing is much
\nthe same thing. I just need to \u201cstay on task\u201d get back to that routine.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0I hope that reading Terese’s interview inspires you to start writing if you haven’t and to keep going if you have stopped.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Biography:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Terese Ramin is the award winning
\nauthor of eleven novels and numerous short stories. Her autobiographical essay,
\n\u201cTwo-Puppy Theory\u201d, is included in the anthology The Sound and the Furry<\/i>, sales of which benefit the International
\nFund for Animal Welfare. The Cured<\/i>,
\nher most recent release with author David Wind, is her first suspense-thriller.
\nHer next release will be an urban paranormal romance with writing partner Dawn
\nJohanson.<\/div>\n
Aside from writing, Terese works
\nas an editor, ghost writer, book doctor, and a paranormal investigator. She
\nlives in Michigan with her husband and a bunch of rescued dogs.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The bar. Again. I met Terese Ramin at my first writers’ conference. Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling 2012 to be exact. I was loitering at the bar waiting to register. I noticed Terese’s conference badge, and struck up a conversation. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,242,9],"tags":[13,27,54,179,180,181,182,183,184],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-addadhd","category-author-interview","category-writing-tips","tag-add-adhd","tag-attention-issues","tag-craft-of-writing","tag-distraction","tag-interview-with-terese-ramin","tag-self-management","tag-success-as-a-writer-with-addadhd","tag-terese-ramin","tag-writing-process"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=235"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":662,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions\/662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}