Tag: novel

Writing With a Disorder- From Not Reading, to Writing a Full Novel

For a while, a long while really, I was not able to read. I didn’t have the focus, the patience, or the time. I couldn’t really do much in terms of writing, though I did post regularly to my old blog. My diagnosis got in my way. My illness took away my concentration. I felt the desire to read, but whenever I sat down to do it, I just gave up.

There were times I had an immense pull to create and I would write things I felt contained a ton of passion though they were just too manic to really amount to anything, and there were several starts to books in the past where I just gave up. I just didn’t have the concentration to really commit to a project so large and overwhelming.

A few hospitalizations later, and I feel mostly normal most of the time. I am reading all the time now, as much as I can. I read about a book a week, unless they are really big, thick sci-fi books. I LOVE to read now. I love to write as well. I feel I lucked out with meds that do what they are supposed to. It has been a tough road. In the past I would only be able to focus on spiritual books that I re-read a bunch of times.

I stuck with it though.

I read all of the Harry Potter books, The Stand, It, and a couple other books by Stephen King. I read two Game of Thrones books and will continue the series. I read some beat writers, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson. I read more sci-fi stuff, Isaac Asimov, Anne McCaffrey, etc. I read all of Edgar Allen Poe and all of H.P. Lovecraft, and I continue to look for more to read all the time. I love it. And the more concentration I had and the more I soaked in, the more I wanted to write my own books.

As it goes, I was able to commit to one project long enough to finish to the best of my ability. And though I didn’t have all the support in the world, it was something I always kind of wanted to be able to do. In my novel, which I think will be a series of three, I cover Bipolar Disorder, fantasy, and sci-fi elements as well as some themes about violence, duty, and societal beliefs. I mostly had fun with the project, though there were times it was tough to put things into words on a page.

I must’ve went through six different drafts and editing and reworking. I read through it countless times, fixing things every chance I got. To actually get to hold in my hands a book that I lovingly crafted for a couple years, I was happy that I was finally able to get something done as big as that.

Please check out the book on Amazon.

A Bit About My First Completed Novel

Writing a book has always seemed some far off dream, something I could never accomplish. I had several starts and stops through the years, but was never able to focus long enough to get to an ending. I put things aside and all but gave up on the idea, thinking it was not for me.

But the urge to write overwhelmed me at times. I’d get the start to a novel in my mind, an idea would fester and not stop until it burst into a working word file. So I wrote. I had the idea and the attention span to get it done. For whatever reason, my moods allowed for it and I was able to stick to it. To the end.

I spent well over a year working on this novel and had many stops and starts. I went through plenty editing drafts, and eventually came to a point of conclusion— I was done. I took it to the zenith of my ability and though I had no editors and very little input, I felt I should finally post it and call it done, and move on to the next project. I have a bad habit of starting things and not finishing, but this book is as done as I can get it.

Writing has become a real passion for me. I started several more novels as I progressed through my preoccupation. Sometimes I think I have too many interests and at times I get into a bind, not knowing what to work on next. I put off the comic strips due to burnout, and worked on things behind the scenes for a while. Posting seemed to take up too much of my time. Time that could be spent creating. And finishing things.

I hope to get back to posting the comic strips sometime this year for sure, but I have so many other projects to work on. Sometimes I think I am too creative for my own good.

I should get book 3 of my comic book series done soon (within a couple months if lucky). I will continue to post about it. I am thinking of calling the series done at the end of the current in-process book. Trilogies seem a good solid length.

But I finished a project. A big project that took me years to be able to do. It is a major accomplishment for me and something I can cross off the bucket list. And now that I know I can do it, I am eager to get more done.

The creative process takes time and can lead to tangents that seem unconnected, which is why I can’t seem to come up with a real predictable timeline or schedule. I never know what the next thing to work on will be. I may wake up one day and have no interest in the thing I’ve been working on, which will lead to needing to work on something else that also takes a long time to complete. It’s a never-ending cycle and one that I wish I had more control over.

All that said, I hope you will like my books, even if you are only here to see the comic strips. As a person with bipolar disorder, I have to be gentle with myself sometimes, and take time to heal or refocus. This novel was a big part of that, as the main character also has bipolar disorder. It was tough at times to tap into some of the themes in the book, but I persisted and wrote and wrote and wrote. I hope it has value for more than just me.

Please check out my book on Amazon and see if it interests you, or if maybe someone you know would benefit from my book.

A Bit About My First Completed Novel

Writing a book has always seemed some far off dream, something I could never accomplish. I had several starts and stops through the years, but was never able to focus long enough to get to an ending. I put things aside and all but gave up on the idea, thinking it was not for me.

But the urge to write overwhelmed me at times. I’d get the start to a novel in my mind, an idea would fester and not stop until it burst into a working word file. So I wrote. I had the idea and the attention span to get it done. For whatever reason, my moods allowed for it and I was able to stick to it. To the end.

I spent well over a year working on this novel and had many stops and starts. I went through plenty editing drafts, and eventually came to a point of conclusion— I was done. I took it to the zenith of my ability and though I had no editors and very little input, I felt I should finally post it and call it done, and move on to the next project. I have a bad habit of starting things and not finishing, but this book is as done as I can get it.

Writing has become a real passion for me. I started several more novels as I progressed through my preoccupation. Sometimes I think I have too many interests and at times I get into a bind, not knowing what to work on next. I put off the comic strips due to burnout, and worked on things behind the scenes for a while. Posting seemed to take up too much of my time. Time that could be spent creating. And finishing things.

I hope to get back to posting the comic strips sometime this year for sure, but I have so many other projects to work on. Sometimes I think I am too creative for my own good.

I should get book 3 of my comic book series done soon (within a couple months if lucky). I will continue to post about it. I am thinking of calling the series done at the end of the current in-process book. Trilogies seem a good solid length.

But I finished a project. A big project that took me years to be able to do. It is a major accomplishment for me and something I can cross off the bucket list. And now that I know I can do it, I am eager to get more done.

The creative process takes time and can lead to tangents that seem unconnected, which is why I can’t seem to come up with a real predictable timeline or schedule. I never know what the next thing to work on will be. I may wake up one day and have no interest in the thing I’ve been working on, which will lead to needing to work on something else that also takes a long time to complete. It’s a never-ending cycle and one that I wish I had more control over.

All that said, I hope you will like my books, even if you are only here to see the comic strips. As a person with bipolar disorder, I have to be gentle with myself sometimes, and take time to heal or refocus. This novel was a big part of that, as the main character also has bipolar disorder. It was tough at times to tap into some of the themes in the book, but I persisted and wrote and wrote and wrote. I hope it has value for more than just me.

Please check out my book on Amazon and see if it interests you, or if maybe someone you know would benefit from my book.

The Prime Meroidial Collective— My new novel

I finally finished something big. My first novel. It’s about a bipolar man who gets inducted into a secret society that serves the universe. There’s fantasy and sci-fi elements and some adventure. It will have a sequel, which I’ve already started. I’m aiming for a trilogy, though if it does well enough it will continue for a while.

I’m still working on the 3rd comic book in my series and hope to spend time posting comic strips sometime this year, but probably only for a brief period of several months. It all depends on how much free time I have. Comic strips are a daily grind and take a lot of effort and can lead to burnout which is why you haven’t seen any in a while.

I hope my novel will be interesting enough to check out. There’s a digital ebook and a physical version available only on Amazon for now. I did this all on my own with little help. It was a big challenge and is the first time I was able to stick to one novel idea long enough to bring to completion.