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‘Captain Underpants’ creator Dav Pilkey turned ADHD into a superpower

The author and illustrator of the best-selling ‘Captain Underpants’ and ‘Dog Man’ graphic novels on how his struggles in school unleashed his creativity.

‘Captain Underpants’ creator Dav Pilkey turned ADHD into a superpower

[Illustration: Aistė Stancikaitė; source image: Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for Greenwich International Film Festival]

BY Amy Farley2 minute read

I try to get a few hours of work done before breakfast. I’ve noticed that when I first wake, I’m still kind of half in a dreamlike state, so it’s good for creativity. I only drink water. I stay away from coffee until I need a little jolt. My wife will call me down for breakfast, we’ll talk for a while, and then I go back upstairs. I usually work straight through until late afternoon, when I’ll take a walk, go kayaking, and get out into nature. We’ll have dinner, and then I go back to work until 7 or as late as 12. It takes me anywhere between two and six hours to sketch, write, and revise each page. And it takes between four and five months of solid work, seven days a week, to complete one book. My goal is to write two books a year.

I’ve been working on [the Dog Man series] since second grade. I was always getting into trouble at school, and my teachers would send me into the hallway. They didn’t have the term ADHD then; they called it extreme hyperactivity. I felt like a misfit, very alone and ashamed. I also have dyslexia and wasn’t able to read as well as everybody else. But being out in the hallway ended up being a blessing. That’s when I would write and draw my stories. It gave me time to focus and be creative, and gave me a way to reinvent myself. My classmates knew me as the kid who was always in trouble. But when I came back into the classroom with a comic that I’d made, they’d crowd around to read it.

I created a character for [the Dog Man series] whose name is 80-HD. He’s a robot who doesn’t communicate the same way everyone else does. But he’s powerful and creative, and very, very valuable. I hope kids make that connection: that there’s nothing to be ashamed of with [ADHD]. It’s something to be proud of. It’s a superpower. It could be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Time he gets up: 5 a.m.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy Farley is the executive editor at Fast Company, where she edits and writes features on a wide range of topics including technology, music, sports, retail, and the intersection of business and culture. She also helps direct the magazine’s annual Most Innovative Companies franchise More


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