BEHIND THE SCENES (BTS): Creating “Before 8am”
the Webtoon Project
the Webtoon Project
How I turned early morning poetry into a digital storytelling series using AI, creativity, and the Members Village platform by Ignite Web Solutions.
THE ORIGIN STORYFrom Poem to Panel
“Before 8am” was written 24 hours before it launched.
It began before the coffee brewed. “Before 8am” was written exactly 24 hours before the visual series launched. Then came “Tears & Echoes,” written a week earlier during a quiet morning with K-dramas playing softly in the background—my mental reset ritual.
What started as reflection became a full collection.
These weren’t planned releases. They were emotional truths that needed a place to land. With AI, storyboarding support, and Members Village, I shaped them into a visual narrative. What started as reflection became a full collection.
Webtoon Episode Guide
Limited Series Format
Themes have been added to reflect the core emotional anchor behind each story.
This series follows a limited, K-drama-inspired arc of 16 episodes—mirroring the structure of When Life Gives You Tangerines
— and explores emotional introspection, healing, and transformation across seasonal phases.
Spring (Episodes 1–4): Beginnings & Unravelings
- Before 8am (Mental load & maternal guilt) – The moment everything spills before the day even starts
- Tears & Echoes (Grief, memory & emotional inheritance) – Grief revisited through memories, omens, and love that lingers
- The Edge of Things (Living on the threshold & quiet resilience) – Living on the threshold of unraveling and reinvention
- Ghost of the Unsaid (Daddy issues & unresolved longing) – Searching for closure where absence shaped identity
Summer (Episodes 5–8): Heat & Revelation
- The Lie That Didn't Happen (Emotional betrayal & hidden healing) – I felt betrayed by what wasn’t said, and still had to learn how to forgive
- Silent Neighbours of the Heart (Social isolation & unseen support systems) – I was surrounded, but I still had to learn how to ask for help
- This Voice, Finally Mine (Reclaiming voice & navigating backlash) – I found my voice—but using it came with new consequences
- Shadow Sister (Sibling rivalry & hidden comparisons) – I loved her, envied her, and sometimes wanted to be her—but never said it out loud
Autumn (Episodes 9–12): Reckoning & Reflection
- The Princess Paradox (Expectations vs reality & the myth of doing it right) – I did everything 'right' & still wondered if I failed the girl I used to be
- The Day the Light Shifted (First love & emotional awakening) – The first time I felt heartbreak, and understood it would shape how I love forever
- Gravity Isn’t Enough (Adult friendships & emotional distance) – I want to be loved, but I’ve become hard to hold—and even harder to reach
- The Mirror Doesn’t Lie (Self-image & seeing yourself through others) – I thought I knew myself, until I saw who I'd become through their eyes
Winter (Episodes 13–16): Closure & Continuance
- When She Laughed (Joy remembered & the presence of absence) – I still hear her laugh in quiet places, where grief can’t drown it
- Ink That Never Dried (Unspoken words & unresolved expression) – I wrote the words I couldn’t say, and they stayed longer than I expected
- The Room Remembers (Home after heartbreak & physical memory) – I still live in the house we built, but not the life we planned
- Still, I Stay (Choosing presence & redefining strength) – I could have left. I didn’t. Every day I choose to stay, rewritng the meaning of strength
My Creative Toolkit
The Tools I Used
My Phone
– for voice memos, early drafts, and emotional downloads
ChatGPT
– for storyboarding, layout, and emotional mapping
Image AI Generator
– for visual test panels and style reference
Ignite Web Solutions
my site and publishing hub, powered by Members Village, where the entire series lives and evolves alongside my client work
AI as a Collaborator
Not a Replacement—A Reflection
AI didn’t replace my creativity—it reflected it back to me. I brought the voice, the truth, the emotion. It offered structure, pattern recognition, and speed.
It helped me see my story more clearly, and gave me the confidence to keep writing in this new way.
WHY IT MATTERSMore Than a Project—A Proof of Concept
Storytelling as Revenue, Not Just Release
This series is more than a passion project. It’s part of a larger plan: to challenge how midlife professionals—especially women—use digital spaces to express, connect, and create income.
I’m building this not just as art, but as a content ecosystem:
- Building an emotional webtoon with poetic foundations
- Writing BTS blog content to share the process
- Creating space for future prints, commissions & workshops
- Modeling how solo creators can use tech to express and earn
A New Kind of Creative Practice
This isn’t a replacement for traditional publishing. It’s an evolution. A new kind of creative practice where our phones become sketchpads, our websites become publishing houses, and AI becomes a scaffolding—not for shortcuts, but for structure.
I am the author. AI is the assistant. Together, we’re building stories that scroll through
the quiet parts of people’s lives and say, “You’re not alone.”
More episodes coming soon.
View the Before 8 am Collection
Each episode is built from personal truth, shaped through poetry, and crafted as a visual moment of quiet reckoning.
Join the Conversation
If this episode stirred something in you—or reflected a moment you’ve lived—
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🔗 And don’t miss the related collections below—each one a quiet revolution in progress.
Your engagement helps this project grow.
Let’s rebuild what midlife storytelling can look like—together.