adhd_alien
patreon
Early access: hurtful assumptions #3!
🕑 Added 2021-07-07 11:43:53 +0000 UTCHey!
I'm back to tell you a little bit of what I've been doing! First of all, thank you so so much for your support. To be honest, it's been a bit rough for me lately. A lot of things in my life are changing, one of them is me moving. The worst is I don't know when that exactly will happen yet! So I've been living in a half boxed-up place for weeks. Or has it been months?
Book
And as some of you already know, I'm working on the ADHD Alien graphic novel! I feel a huge responsibility to make it the best book I can - but that also means I'm dealing with a lot of insecurities. I have to learn how everything works and how to even write a book as I go and the old voices keep crawling back up:
"You've abandoned everything you've started, who thought it was a good idea for you to write a whole book?".
"dealing with insecurities" haha, I'm terrified.
I'm afraid because I know it's hard for me to start doing things, to stick to deadlines and get up each day and motivate myself. Which is a weird feeling because I'm supposed to know all these things about ADHD and know better than to doubt myself like that. But I HAVE been getting up, working and handing my work in on time. I'm doing it! And everyone I'm working with is so welcoming and reassuring. And every time I question who even wants to read something from me, I get a nice message. Every single time!! I get a DM telling me how someone got a diagnosis thanks to me, I get an e-mail reminding me of just how many people support me and are interested in what I have to say.
I don't know how to express how much that means to me, so I will try to give as much to you all with my work as I can. I hope I can help as many people feel reassured that they're not alone, and provide as many people as possible with easy to understand, but also more in-depth information.
(Summary: I've been super busy working on the book and dealing with my anxiety involving this and other life changes.)
Interactive Comics
I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it before, but I actually have a BA in Game Design! I've recently started studying for a Masters in Game Design and I wanted to announce to ya'll what I'm planning as my masters project!! For now, the book has 100% priority and I've found an agreement with my professors so that I can work on the project exclusively in my off-time. Because of that I don't have that much to show yet BUT I'M SO EXCITED FOR IT!!
I'm going to create interactive comics that are supposed to help explain and visualize even better how ADHD & it's symptoms can affect us!
I'm currently still in the very beginning phases of this, but I'd love to have animated panels and explanations, and even something like mini-games. Imagine we could hand our phone / tablet to a loved one and go "Okay here, try this. This is how it feels for me."
Here's an example based on a comic about short-term memory I made a while ago.
In order to memorize a chore, you have to drag and drop this chore into your short-term memory (here inside the head). But because there is only limited space, other chores will "drop" out, meaning you forget these chores.
Don't worry if this is still hard to understand, I will have to do a looooot of testing and refining. :)
Another thing I'm considering is allowing you to save individual panels that you particularly relate to and letting you put them into your own collage - and then export it as an image you can share with people.
Another way interactive comics could make explanations easier is by revealing text or parts of graphics only after you tap on them. You know, to avoid walls of texts! (Further explanations will only appear after you tap a panel that interests you)
I'll be keeping you updated and if you're interested, post more behind-the-scenes for this project! I would love to have my patrons play test this as soon as I have something playable. :) I'm looking forward to hearing your input on it, what kind of functions you'd love and all of that!
(Summary: I'm working on an interactive ADHD comic in my off-time)
Thank youu!!!
Comments
Matthew Miller
Hey, thanks for this update. I echo the others about how helpful your work has been -- my teenage daughter and I (both very ADHD) have found them invaluable in explaining things to my wife, who is a wonderful person but sometimes just doesn't get it. I totally understand about ups and downs, especially when you're making something both creative and deeply personal. So I'm happy to continue to support via Patreon and look forward to more awesome stuff as time and energy and everything else permit.
Wesley Bryant
Your comics had a transformative effect on my life over the last year. If you need any help on those interactive projects, I'd be happy to help, I'm a web developer and I have the same sort of idea rattling around in my head but I haven't refined it.
