{"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":48256,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/08\/27\/teenage-beast-the-home-stretch\/","url_meta":{"origin":48355,"position":0},"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":1},"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":2},"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":3},"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":4},"title":"This is THE END","author":"Joe","date":"February 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"...or it could be. 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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":[]},{"id":47983,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/07\/14\/a-face-in-the-crowd\/","url_meta":{"origin":48355,"position":5},"title":"A Face in the Crowd","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"July 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm about 70 pages into the first draft of my Teenage Beast story. 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As I have written before, I spend about an\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\/07\/Bobby-Hughes-07-09-2026.jpg?fit=640%2C934&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Bobby-Hughes-07-09-2026.jpg?fit=640%2C934&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Bobby-Hughes-07-09-2026.jpg?fit=640%2C934&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}]}}