Hyperfocus: The Audio Adventures

So picture this: a fourteen-year-old me. Achingly shy, incomprehensibly introverted, with a head full of nothing much else but stories. Friends and contemporaries all doing things, you know, socially. And me, sitting on my own, hunched in front of a screen, writing thousands upon thousands of words. For no one else other than me. Superheroes and sci-fi, time travel, aliens, larger-than-life characters with astounding abilities. No regard for stylistic prose, or correct grammar at that. It was a meditation, it wasn’t meant to be read.

Not much has changed. Except now I’m a little better at sharing what comes out.

I’ve always struggled with writing prose. I’m never convinced what I write ever really sounds bookish enough. Writerly. It always feels like I can only kinda dully describe a series of events and the people they happen to. I don’t have the flair for composing compelling prose. I try, and I’ll keep trying, but it’s not something that comes anywhere near naturally. And that’s ok. 

Now, dialogue, I love writing. I can hear the conversations in my head, the personalities contained within, and that just flows out of me. Conversation with a sprinkling of stage direction for effect is definitely where I feel most comfortable. A way of inhabiting the character I’m writing and doing my best to find the authenticity in there. Having never really grasped the concept of Voice when it would have been useful for my English grade, I think I get it better now, or at least why it appeals to me so much. Which has always made me think that I just need to write for a different medium – and that explains why for years I told everyone I wanted to be a filmmaker. Flirted, pretty unseriously it must be said, with the idea of playwriting. And eventually came to spoken word. Oral storytelling, really. And found myself entirely in my element.

So, I’ve got stories to tell. And not the money, headspace, artistry or anywhere near enough friends or connections to make film, theatre, animation, etc. That clears the way to the wonderful world of audio. 

I’ve never been a really avid listener of radio dramas or audio fiction – too distractible. But it’s an amazing, endlessly compelling medium, theatre of the mind writ large. An incredible long-standing media tradition experiencing a modern renaissance. Some of my favourite creators are making audio fiction, some traditional, some wildly experimental. Incredible, inspiring work at home in the most versatile of mediums. And crucially, it offers the kind of freedom that makes it easy for a kid with a head full of stories… to tell stories.

Introducing my debut audio drama, the story of Tyneside’s newest – and messiest – superhero. After a terrible quirk of fate leaves him with extraordinary powers, Will thinks he could be set to become a quintessential comic-book hero. But it quickly becomes clear that his new powers are stuck in flux, changing constantly at the drop of a hat. No rhyme, no reason, no pattern. Just chaos.

All told in his own words, experience his origin, his resulting super-charged identity crisis, his single-minded quest to take down a pyromaniacal gang, and his search for a way to thrive under the omnipresent, lonely shadow of the city’s totalitarian rule. And as he meets both vital new friends and dangerous new enemies, there’s also that strange, persistent voice whispering in his ear: protect the city. And to do that, he’ll have to embrace the chaos and assume the identity Hyperfocus.

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Is it a shallow allegory for ADHD? What could have possibly made you think that? Might have something to do with the fact that, the way I see it, all our best known superheroes are neurodivergent. I think it’s even a pretty commonly accepted fact nowadays that we see ourselves reflected so well in these characters for a reason. So I’m using the story and the genre to explore some identity questions, with an added dash of anticapitalism as a bonus. Because superheroes shouldn’t be upholding the status quo, man.

From the germ of an idea formed back in 2021, the story’s been in development for a solid two years – building the world, casting characters, plotting episodes and narrative beats. It’s a solo project, rather than a full-cast production, mostly for ease and affordability purposes (I already have a microphone for video-making, and plenty of blankets). But having a monologue-style single character piece is also certainly interesting from a genre and storytelling standpoint – big budget superhero megablockbusters generally just don’t have the time, inclination or ability to really drill into the heads of their protagonists in the way that comic thought bubbles just naturally offer. 

To really achieve that level of depth, the project will certainly have to stretch longer than these nine episodes I’m making initially, which is why I’m optimistically calling it Series 1, and allowing various story threads to spin themselves further along. Whether I actually make anything more will have to remain to be seen, but I can’t imagine the possibility won’t still excite me as much as it does at the moment.

For now, it’s an adventure in a new-to-me medium. Coming soon to wherever you listen to your podcasts.