I Nearly Burnt Out… But I Finished the Book!

Nat Bannerman
6 days ago
2 min read

Things have been pretty wild while creating the books. Progress was slow during school and then suddenly fast the moment I finished my last day. It feels like the book came together quickly, but in reality, it took almost five months to complete.

Balancing a growing business with school has been tough. The constant workload pushed my stress levels high, which slowed everything down for both Zosimos Curra® and my studies. I was zoning out, juggling assessments, forgetting tasks and even forgetting that I had a book waiting for me. After all that, it took three months just to finish the first four and a half pages.

Eventually, I could not focus anymore and had to take a step back from illustrating. I needed to avoid a complete stress overload. I tried to stay productive by working on Zosimos’s family tree (yes, Zosimos has a family tree. It’s a work in progress), but I often got distracted by games or random fictional stories I typed into my phone and later deleted. That break from illustrating lasted a month, right up until the last day of school.

Once college was finished, everything changed. I suddenly found my rhythm again. I still do not have a perfect schedule, but I now know which days I can work, how long I can focus, and when I need to rest. I have been illustrating most weekdays and keeping weekends free since I am usually out of the house. Now that I’m back in the swing of things, I have been genuinely enjoying the work again without feeling overwhelmed.

The last four and a half pages took, drumroll please, just two weeks to complete. A huge difference and honestly a pretty great surprise.