{"id":48355,"date":"2026-09-16T01:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T05:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=48355"},"modified":"2026-09-15T20:57:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T00:57:40","slug":"teenage-beast-102-days-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/09\/16\/teenage-beast-102-days-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenage Beast: 102 Days Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I started writing Teenage Beast<\/em> 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 comic with a sea of captions and thought balloons, or it was going to be a prose story. I opted for prose.<\/p>\n

I never thought I would write prose fiction. I haven’t done so since 10th grade. It always felt like homework. Back then, I wrote everything longhand. Sadly, I never mastered the typewriter. I pity my poor teachers who had to decipher my chicken scratch.<\/p>\n

Now I am well into my second draft. I have enjoyed the process, and it is starting to become something that is actually readable.<\/p>\n

In the mornings, I usually spend my first waking hour writing. At night, I unwind with a sketchbook in my lap, sitting on a couch and watching trash stream to my 20-year-old television.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>Lately, I have been visiting and revisiting a sequence that happens maybe a little better than midway through the book. I’m working out the choreography of the scene and figuring out the kind of marks I want to make. It’s all exploration.<\/p>\n

That’s it for now.<\/p>\n

Let’s see where another 102 days take us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The third version of this scene in progress<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":48359,"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":[49,4,16,6405],"tags":[1338,6421,6418,1270,6435,6114,907,6420,6429,6415,6414,6419,3661,6427,5693,6428,6416,5,6426,4866,6431,215,3613,6432,6423,25,6422,5937,6433,480,6434,6407],"class_list":["post-48355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-it-came-from-the-sketchbook","category-news","category-sketch","category-teenage-beast","tag-1338","tag-black-and-white-art","tag-comic-book-art","tag-comic-books","tag-creative-exploration","tag-creative-process","tag-drawing","tag-fiction-writing","tag-from-the-sketchbook","tag-horror-comics","tag-horror-fiction","tag-horror-novel","tag-illustration","tag-independent-author","tag-independent-comics","tag-indie-author","tag-indie-comics","tag-joe-williams","tag-novel-writing","tag-pen-and-ink","tag-prose-fiction","tag-punk-rock","tag-rust-belt","tag-second-draft","tag-self-publishing","tag-sketchbook","tag-sketchbook-art","tag-teenage-beast","tag-teenage-beast-novel","tag-usa","tag-writing-and-drawing","tag-writing-process"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-czV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48387,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/09\/22\/teenage-beast-the-tuesday-doodle\/","url_meta":{"origin":48355,"position":0},"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":48256,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/08\/27\/teenage-beast-the-home-stretch\/","url_meta":{"origin":48355,"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":48205,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/08\/20\/teenage-beast-words-and-pictures\/","url_meta":{"origin":48355,"position":2},"title":"Teenage Beast: Words and Pictures","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"August 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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\/GET-SET-GO.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GET-SET-GO.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GET-SET-GO.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GET-SET-GO.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GET-SET-GO.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48125,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/08\/11\/two-months-five-days-and-38329-words-later\/","url_meta":{"origin":48355,"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":48355,"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. It turns out I've been so focused on telling the story that I forgot to keep score.","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\/07\/tookapic-screen-933307_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tookapic-screen-933307_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tookapic-screen-933307_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tookapic-screen-933307_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tookapic-screen-933307_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44548,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/02\/04\/this-is-the-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":48355,"position":5},"title":"This is THE END","author":"Joe","date":"February 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"...or it could be. 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\/09\/My-Sweet-Embraceable-You-02.jpg?fit=640%2C904&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48355","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=48355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}