{"id":48205,"date":"2026-08-20T07:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=48205"},"modified":"2026-08-20T07:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:56:23","slug":"teenage-beast-words-and-pictures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/08\/20\/teenage-beast-words-and-pictures\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenage Beast: Words and Pictures"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As I have written before, I have been writing a horror novel — Teenage Beast<\/em> — 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.<\/p>\n

I have to say, I feel pretty good.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I am in the zone, so to speak, both in my writing and in my drawing.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That has changed. I’m actually enthusiastic about putting my marks on paper.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I am working in a small Strathmore Sketchbook<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

If you have any thoughts about this, please drop me a line in the comments below.<\/p>\n

For now, I am assembling my recent drawings in a gallery below. Click the thumbnails for a larger image.<\/p>\n

\"LOSING-PATIENCE\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"BLARGH-FOOSH\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"GET-SET-GO\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"BAD-BREATH\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"ON-YOUR-MARK\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"SHOOT-HIM\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":48208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[49,16,6405],"tags":[233,1338,6421,6417,6418,1270,6114,6377,907,6420,6415,6414,6419,6424,3661,5693,6416,2034,5,4866,3669,215,3613,6423,25,6422,699,5937,480,5978,6407],"class_list":["post-48205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-it-came-from-the-sketchbook","category-sketch","category-teenage-beast","tag-1970s","tag-1338","tag-black-and-white-art","tag-cartooning","tag-comic-book-art","tag-comic-books","tag-creative-process","tag-creative-writing","tag-drawing","tag-fiction-writing","tag-horror-comics","tag-horror-fiction","tag-horror-novel","tag-illustrated-books","tag-illustration","tag-independent-comics","tag-indie-comics","tag-it-came-from-the-sketchbook-2","tag-joe-williams","tag-pen-and-ink","tag-philadelphia","tag-punk-rock","tag-rust-belt","tag-self-publishing","tag-sketchbook","tag-sketchbook-art","tag-strathmore","tag-teenage-beast","tag-usa","tag-writing","tag-writing-process"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-cxv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48355,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/09\/16\/teenage-beast-102-days-later\/","url_meta":{"origin":48205,"position":0},"title":"Teenage Beast: 102 Days Later","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"September 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I started writing Teenage Beast on June 7th of this year as a lark. It was going to be a comic book script, but as I started writing scene directions, I found myself getting more and more into the heads of the characters. Either it was going to be a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/My-Sweet-Embraceable-You-02.jpg?fit=640%2C904&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/My-Sweet-Embraceable-You-02.jpg?fit=640%2C904&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/My-Sweet-Embraceable-You-02.jpg?fit=640%2C904&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48256,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/08\/27\/teenage-beast-the-home-stretch\/","url_meta":{"origin":48205,"position":1},"title":"Teenage Beast: The Home Stretch","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I finished the main body of the first draft of my horror novel, Teenage Beast. Tomorrow, I will start the epilogue, which will hopefully tie the story up in a nice little bow. Then I will start polishing this thing with another draft or three. I will probably\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/In-the-tall-grass-det.jpg?fit=640%2C349&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/In-the-tall-grass-det.jpg?fit=640%2C349&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/In-the-tall-grass-det.jpg?fit=640%2C349&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48387,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/09\/22\/teenage-beast-the-tuesday-doodle\/","url_meta":{"origin":48205,"position":2},"title":"Teenage Beast: The Tuesday Doodle","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"September 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The writing of my Teenage Beast novel continues as I work my way into the second draft. I'm spending my first waking hour working away at it. It's becoming more cohesive, and I'll get there. Slow and steady wins the race. At night, I crack open the sketchbooks and visit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Doodle Tuesday"","block_context":{"text":"Doodle Tuesday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/doodle-tuesday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Bobby-Mid-Transformation-web.jpg?fit=640%2C880&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Bobby-Mid-Transformation-web.jpg?fit=640%2C880&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Bobby-Mid-Transformation-web.jpg?fit=640%2C880&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48125,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/08\/11\/two-months-five-days-and-38329-words-later\/","url_meta":{"origin":48205,"position":3},"title":"Two Months, Four Days and 38,329 Words Later","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"August 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm still writing. Somehow I have managed to keep to my morning ritual. Sadly, if this were a gym membership, I would have crapped out on it long ago. Writing is a lot less physically taxing, but it is mentally taxing. I've been managing to meet the challenge thus far.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Doodle Tuesday"","block_context":{"text":"Doodle Tuesday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/doodle-tuesday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/slam-dance-action-Bobby.jpg?fit=800%2C1150&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/slam-dance-action-Bobby.jpg?fit=800%2C1150&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/slam-dance-action-Bobby.jpg?fit=800%2C1150&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/slam-dance-action-Bobby.jpg?fit=800%2C1150&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48048,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/07\/21\/what-are-words-for\/","url_meta":{"origin":48205,"position":4},"title":"What Are Words For?","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"July 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A simple question from my wife led me to discover just how much progress I'd made on Teenage Beast. 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I may have figured out the end of my story and I am working my way backwards. I never planned on revisiting the Teenage Beast character which I cooked up back in the mid-1980s, but I find that is where my pen and my sketchbooks are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Doodle Tuesday"","block_context":{"text":"Doodle Tuesday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/doodle-tuesday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pen and ink drawing of the Teenage Beast going back to hell","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Teenage-Beasts-Final-Form.jpg?fit=640%2C796&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Teenage-Beasts-Final-Form.jpg?fit=640%2C796&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Teenage-Beasts-Final-Form.jpg?fit=640%2C796&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GET-SET-GO.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}