As I have written before, I have been writing a horror novel — Teenage Beast — since June 7th and frankly, I am surprised by my progress. I thought I would spend several days staring at a flashing cursor, not knowing what I would peck out on my keyboard. After a fruitless week or two, I would have called it quits, but fortunately, that isn’t the case. I have managed to maintain a schedule of writing for at least an hour a day, every day, and it seems to be working. Words are flowing out of me, and so far I am 42,466 words deep into a first draft.
I have to say, I feel pretty good.
I am in the zone, so to speak, both in my writing and in my drawing.
Writing takes place in the morning when I am bleary-eyed, barely conscious and taking that first sip of coffee. Nights are for drawing, and until recently, it always seemed I was too tired to crack open the sketchbooks and start scrawling a pencil or an ink line. I would fall asleep in front of the TV instead.
That has changed. I’m actually enthusiastic about putting my marks on paper.
I think about what I have written, or what may happen next, and that informs the drawings. The drawings, in turn, inform what I may write the next morning. These are happy labors that I actually look forward to doing.
I am working in a small Strathmore Sketchbook that was floating around the house half-used and begging to be polished off. It is not my favorite paper for ink — it’s thin and prone to ghosting — but it’s been pretty good for working out scenes or figuring out approaches to final drawings with ink.
Because the drawings are in black and white, I am toying with the idea of self-publishing this book with illustrations. I know I’m thinking about the finished book before I’ve even finished the first draft, but I like the idea of placing a spot illustration or two per chapter. To me, the words and pictures are inextricably linked.
Yes, I have kicked around doing a comic, but prose with spot illustrations seems very doable. I’m practically there. It would be silly not to do it.
If you have any thoughts about this, please drop me a line in the comments below.
For now, I am assembling my recent drawings in a gallery below. Click the thumbnails for a larger image.
