Last week, I sent what I thought was the completed draft off to my editor. He sent back notes, and asked me, “Why don’t you ever talk about the actual experience of working on Nemesis?”
“Because I never wrote about it on my website,” I said.
“Well, as a reader, I really miss it not being in the book. You lead up to it, then you reflect upon it, but you left out the actual doing it. I think it needs to be there.”
“Okay,” I said, “it’s going to take a couple of days, though. My memory is a little fuzzy on it, and I’ll have to double-check everything.”
“Great. I look forward to reading it.”
When I worked on the movie, I kept some notes; little one line things like, “security,” and “The Mill,” and “Planet Hell.” They would have jarred my memory had I used them within a few days or even weeks of filming . . . but it’s been almost two years, and they just looked like disconnected words to me. So I got out my script, and my call sheets, and talked with Anne, and read my archived weblog entries . . . and most of my memories came back to me. Some of them were just impressions, (good for talking about, but not writing down,) and others were clear enough to be recollected in the book.
There’s a huge difference between telling my friends, “Patrick was cool,” and recreating for a reader exactly what he did that made him so cool, you know? It’s the difference, Cory Doctorow told me, between showing and telling. “Always show if you have a choice,” he said. (And I’m not name-dropping. Cory gave me great advice which made a huge difference to me as a writer, and I want to give him credit for it. So there.)
So, to get to the point of this story: On Wednesday night, I finally finished Just A Geek. On Thursday morning, I got notes from Brett, and on Thursday afternoon, we sent the manuscript off to O’Reilly’s production department.
I can’t believe that it’s done! There’s this conflicted feeling of relief and sadness that I get when I finish working on a movie or doing a run of a play. The feeling never the same for two projects, but it’s the same . . . wait. It’s like this: It’s never the same flavor, but it’s always the same texture. Does that make sense? I think it does, and I’m actually quite happy with that metaphor. 🙂
See, for the last month, I’ve had a pretty set routine: I get up, I make coffee, I read some e-mail and check up on news, then I write for several hours. I go out of hte house for lunch, then come home and write until I’m out of creative steam. I spend the evenings trying to unwind, but I can’t, because I know that the book has to be finished, so I usually find myself back at the computer working on stuff that I know I’m going to end up rewriting in the morning. Futurama, Family Guy, then sleep for about 7 or 8 hours, and the whole thing starts all over again.
Oh, and this great schedule has resulted in me seriously porking out. I’ve been on a steady diet of fast food and beer for about a month, and I think I’ve gained close to ten pounds. I’m a small guy, so that’s a lot. Watch Screen Savers on Wednesday, and marvel at how fat my double chin is. I think they may give it its own show.
When that schedule was over, I found myself really not knowing what to do . . . so I spent most of yesterday on the couch, watching the second season of Futurama. Normally, I don’t waste an entire day like that, but I think I earned it. I think the intensity of the rewriting process (it was more emotional than I had expected, to recall all the ups and downs of the last few years) finally caught up with me, and I needed to let my brain rest. It was like sitting down after being on my feet for most of a day, and realizing just how tired I was.
So now the weekend is here. Anne’s out of town, the kids are with their dad, and I was supposed to be in Michigan for the awesome Penguicon. Of course, the one weekend in the entire freaking year that I want to be out of town, I get a call that I may be working on a movie, so I had to stay home . . . and I’m not working on the movie. This is why I don’t talk about potential projects any more. It’s a little embarrassing when they don’t pan out. Furstrating as all hell for me, and people who were looking forward to meeting me, too.
Luckily I have found some things to do to keep me occupied this weekend: I went to a They Might Be Giants show with my brother last night (that was awesome and worthy of its own post. I’ll get to that RSN), and I’m going to an art show today. Tomorrow, I’m helping my friend Darin paint at his house, so his baby has a nice room to sleep in when she arrives in a couple of weeks.
That’s it. My coffee is done, and I’m all out of things to talk about for today.
Oh, except for it’s raining right now, and it feels like the rain in Hawai’i, but colder. I’ve written this entire entry with the doors and windows open, so I can hear and smell the rain, and Ferris just shook herself off all over my bathrobe. Yuck. Now I smell like a wet dog.
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Someday mother will die and I’ll get the money
Mom leans down and says, “My sentiments exactly,
You son of a bitch” I palindrome I
Love TMBG, can’t wait for the next time they get back out here to NYC. Congrats on finishing the book Wil, can’t wait to read it.
–Hob
Wheaton, don’t think for one second that putting TMBG lyrics in your post will soften my outrage at you missing our interview at Penguicon.
Alright, maybe it is softened a smidge. But ONLY a smidge.
Wow. You listen to the Get Up Kids. I keep forgeting that they are famous and stuff. Congrats on finishing the book. & doesn’t everyone just love Cory anyway?
Wil,
Just watched Deep Core for the first time. What can I say. Can’t believe they killed off your character before the end of the movie. You could have written a better script. Nice scene with the jigger of gin on the navel. Don’t give up acting–we miss your beautiful smile.
Freeman:)
Speaking of Palindromes, . . . I saw your post on Fark about Weird Al’s parents passing away. I’ve been listening to his CDs over the past week and I was blown away by “Bob” because the entire song is made up of palindromes. Hoowwwwww does someone do that?! Anyway, when I saw “palindrome”, I thought you were writing about that song. Well, I’m blathering on. Just thought I’d share that. Oh, and PS: Thanks for the autographed pics! 🙂 Jenny
Wil,
It takes alot of work, to me, to finish a book. Good job and I got a feeling that people will like your work. Enjoy your break.
FG
Yes, Hawaii IS really spelled Hawai’i. IIRC from growing up in the islands, the apostrophe mark is an accent mark called an okina mark, which is always placed when you have two of the same vowels together in a word.
I’m a big fan and I look forward to more of your work in the future.
Wil,
Thanks for finally clearing up a point that was confusing me–your being able to watch Futurama–which has been removed from broadcast tv here in the LA area. It was only when you mentioned having watched a whole days worth of a whole season that I realized you were not seeing it on cable but watching a CD. Nice to find out you’re also a fan. I miss seeing new episodes…
BTW, congrats on finally finishing the book! Finishing “anything” is always a let down, the cure for which is to always have another fire burning.
I also like the flavor/texture metaphor. It IS rather excellent! [Wish I’d thought of it…]
Oh, just one final thing: as a sort of newbie to commenting on BBs, I not totally “literate” to some of the webspeak. Just what does
\m/ mean? Thanks…
Joe, [just a Fanboy grown old…]
Dude, congrats on finishing JAG!
And I like the metaphor, too: it’s very evocative.
What to do with yourself now? Banish the double chin! Go running! Or indulge in a power kite and go beast it around a field somewhere. It’s glorious 😉
Congratulations on finishing the book! I know the feeling you’re talking about, that wonderful last minute period of crazy writing where the ideas don’t stop, your computer keyboard just about has burn marks from all the typing, and finally, after it’s all done and submitted and you can just sit still for a minute and reflect on the knowledge that you’ve just finished something you’re really proud of.
You’d think all that would make it easier to start the next one, huh? 🙂 Don’t drink too much, no matter how good you feel – your body is about to remind you how hard your brain has worked in the past few weeks. I predict some falling asleep in front of Futurama will occur. 🙂
Best wishes.
Hey! Congrats on finishing the book! Its good to hear that we will have access to the new book soon. I cant wait. Im going to have Dancing Barefoot and JAG ordered from the local book store. Dancing Barefoot first of course and I am going to pre-order JAG. I cant wait to read Dancing barefoot and experience what all the other people that frequent this site have experienced. And JAG I will be able to experience with them. =)
Good Luck and I hope you get whatever you hoped to acheive out of this book!
~Lotus~
You’ve definitely earned this down time, Wil… enjoy it!!
There is something to soothing and refreshing about a good, cool, fresh rain. I can recall, when I lived in Florida, the tropical rainstorms we would get. I’d get home from work and curl up on my loveseat with a good book. The window was directly behind me and the patio next to me… the sound and smell of the rain, could keep me there for hours… completely engrossed in my book. It’s a wonderful feeling, isn’t it? 🙂
I’m glad to hear that you’re book is in the final stages… can’t wait to read it!! Sounds like it will be one of those great books to get completely engrossed in.
Don’t fret the double chin, Wil. Take up jogging or something if you really must, but whatever you do do not get lured into plastic surgery. I’m sick of seeing people with perfect faces, blinding teeth and skinny asses. Real people do not look like that. You, Wil, are a real person. I suspect that this is what your blog and your post-TVsWilWheaton fame is about. I entreat you not to forget this.
love that metaphor. very clever sir!
Congratulations on finishing your book, i’m even more excited for its release now. We’ve missed you around the board though so i’m kind of glad that its over finally. 🙂
hey there was just a random hail storm…
Keep on Truckin’ Wil..
Yay for being done! *throws celebratory confetti*
Can’t wait to read it, 🙂
Congrats on finishing the book — you’re entitled a day or two to veg. One of these days, I’ll actually finish a project and know that same feeling.
Now you can finally finish working on the D&D campaign for the boys; I’m looking forward to reading about it, and I’m a total D&D-ignorant old lady here…although I did peek into some of the DM books once to see if I could get any clues into character development for general SF/F writing.
Looking forward to reading JAG when it comes out; keep us posted as to release dates, etc.
Hey Wil, sucks that you couldnt go to Penguincon. Neil Gaiman wanted to meet you. Even says in his blog -> http://www.neilgaiman.com
Just returned from Penguicon.
Neil Gaiman rocks, he must have signed autographs for 2+ hours on Saturday. His reading was awesome and the few panels he was on were really interesting.
Penguicon was alot of fun and I was bummed that you couldn’t be there Wil, I wanted to meet ya.
-steve
Throwing my CONGRATS in there too.
Job well done – can’t wait to read it.
A lot of people do their best work under
pressure and can totally relate to your flavor/texture metaphor for the high/let down of wrapping up a project, in fact that’s
the best description I’ve ever heard.
Another example of your talent as a writer.
Don’t worry about the 10 pounds – training
for the Leukemia walk will take care of that!
Enjoy the rest – you deserve it.
Hey Wil!
To repeat what everyone else has said – congrats on finishing JAG!! I can’t wait to read it as Dancing Barefoot is an awesome book!
As another one of your bummed fans who attended Pengicon – if you get the chance to attend next year, please consider it! We were very disappointed that we didn’t get to meet you and I know several people who were REALLY looking forward to seeing you perform. A great time was had by most even though I am nursing a really bad sunburn (I wasn’t aware it was possible to get sunburnt in the middle of April in Michigan …lol).
You would have been happy with the charity auction. I believe it brought in over $4000 for the CBLDF. Chuck did a great job stepping in to cover for you while Neil played “Vanna”. They were hilarious!
Wil, I don’t mean to go all “paranoid med student” on you, but it’s not really a good idea to paint a room a few weeks before a newborn arrives. The fumes are still present and their skin is extremely permeable. Just an FYI. Otherwise, congrats on the book.
Wil, I know that I have no right to chastise you for canceling at Penguicon– but I’m going to anyway!
Please don’t forget that your fans are the reason for your employability. So even though you had a chance to get some film work, a commitment is a commitment. I think a convention appearance is every bit as important as a film deal. I understand you had to compromise, but in this case it turned out to be a lose-lose situation. I’m sorry you didn’t get the film, but you had a chance to have a fun weekend and please a lot of fans, and you missed the boat. Crap-tacular.
</guilttrip>
Wil:
So does that mean that next year at this time, we can see you at the L.A. Times Book festival???
“AUTHOR, WIL WHEATON”
That looks SO cool!!!
🙂
Scott
Wil:
So does that mean that next year at this time, we can see you at the L.A. Times Book festival???
“AUTHOR, WIL WHEATON”
That looks SO cool!!!
🙂
Scott
hi!
I’m from Spain, and I like asked a question:
Who is GEEK????? I can not find it. Please, teel me.
And said that in Spain we can not buy NOTHING about you, I can not find your book
TMBG concert?!? I think I must kill you now…
Listen Ana, hear my words, they’re the ones I would say if there was a me for you.
I don’t want the world, I just want your half…
Congrats on finishing the book, you deserve a break!
Futurama is on cable, Wil is obviously keeping similar hours to mine. Futurama/Family Guy is on the Cartoon Network from 11:00PM to midnight, at least in the LA area.
Caught Deep Core on Saturday, too bad about the untimely death! At least the beer you character drinks in the plane is one of my favorites!
Congrats!!! I’m am really looking forward to read it.
When I read your metaphore this came to mind:
> It’s never the same flavor, but it’s always
> the same texture.
That’s like chicken!
It’s also almost lunchtime – maybe I’m just hungry 😉
Regards
Mikael Conley
Did they open with James K Polk and Confetti Canons?
Easily one of the best live shows I have ever seen. Damn Australia, we don’t get them hardly enough.
Hey. Congratulations on finishing your book. I’ve been a long time reader, can’t wait to get hold of a copy of JAG. Although that might be difficult in the UK. Anyway, good luck with the book, i’m sure it’ll do great!
Don’t sweat the weight, Wil, ’cause it could be worse–you could have a ten-pound fluctuation every MONTH (like I do). Congrats on the finished project!
Wil:
So does that mean that next year at this time, we can see you at the L.A. Times Book festival???
“AUTHOR, WIL WHEATON”
That looks SO cool!!!
🙂
Scott
Wil:
So does that mean that next year at this time, we can see you at the L.A. Times Book festival???
“AUTHOR, WIL WHEATON”
That looks SO cool!!!
🙂
Scott
Wil:
So does that mean that next year at this time, we can see you at the L.A. Times Book festival???
“AUTHOR, WIL WHEATON”
That looks SO cool!!!
🙂
Scott
my uncle was dead in 198…, of leukemia, thanks for everything what you do trying to collect bottoms for the leukemia.
Anne thanks, Wil thanks, thanks of all heart
Carrissima Natalia(he scores points with the Spanish chick here)….
GEEK is a strange,English,most likely American word which means someone who is into his/her own interests and fixations to the exclusion of general,POPULAR forms of entertainment or interest….
People who LIVE for net-gaming,comicbook collecting,cookbook collecting,fungus farming,etc. are generally held to be “geeks”.
I have my suspicions that our friend WIL WHEATON is truely a fine,decent,up-standing citizen,PRETENDING to geekness….the jury is still out,in my humble opinion.
Did this explanation help you at all? Can you send me any local fungus? Your Thoughts….
Very awesome! Any chance at preordering JAG? *grins* I’ve ordered Dancing Barefoot from Amazon and am just hoping it’ll be in before I head off to England next week. Very exciting news with the completion of the book though. Way to go Wil! Good times, good times.
Yo Wil,
Glad all is going well with da book…but beer, fast foods, double chin? Dude, you’re doing a marathon in a little over a month! Time to hit some serious mileage, otherwise you’ll have to be stretchered across the finish line! 🙂
Glad the book will be out soon. Too bad you couldn’t make Penguicon,.. from Neil Gaiman’s blog – **(And, looking at the Penguincon site I see that Wil Wheaton can’t be there. What a real pity — I was looking forward to meeting him.**
Wil, I was all ready to drive 4 hours to Penguicon for the sole purpose (ok, maybe 80%) of meeting you when I threw out my back. Who would have thunk that my bad back would have saved me from being royally pissed at you for not showing. Thankfully, I am not pissed (and the back is healing nicely thanks) so I can look forward to reading JAG instead of bitching about how bad Wesley sucks for not showing…
One more thing…My wife (after June 5th) read Dancing Barefoot this weekend just because she is super cool and wanted to see what I saw in your work. Anyway, she said it made her cry and laugh all within about 15 minutes. She is now looking forward to JAG as well!
That feeling is like Jell-o Pudding 🙂
Same texture every time (unless you’re a complete n00b or don’t like reading direcions), but a different flavor.
I was really excited about the Team in Training business and watching your donations climb higher and higher, but recently it seems like nothing is happening! It’s been about the same amount for a few days now, and you guys haven’t been walking… Hang in there! You’re walking because I can’t, although I know we all need to.
WIL! I just voted for you in the onilne BRAVO poll about the greatest TV characters of all time. And I didn’t just make it up, you were an OPTION. I just checked the box. You probably already know this, but I didn’t bother finding out if someone else commented on it because I am lazy. SORRY! GO WIL!
I’m reading the copy of “Dancing Barefoot” that my friend Brendoman gave me. Very funny and interesting. Also, I liked the TMBG reference in the title of this post.
Cool to meet you at the show on Friday, Wil. You were just as nice as I thought you’d be. I’ve got an invitation for you on my site if you’re ever in town. Anyway, keep writing, punk. Hope you enjoyed the show. Oh, and thanks for commenting on my site. Now I have to watch that movie again, you fargin’ bastich.
Hey Wil,
Just sitting here electronically sterilizing myself with my laptop on my uh-lap, reading all the kudos for finishing your book. So toss one more of those on the fire from me as well.
With regards to the flavor/texture thing- “YP…MP… now you’re talking over my head.”
But seriously (as much as this insomniac can be right now), my wife claims that I thrive under pressure (of which I beg to differ- it may look good on the outside, but its a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride on the inside!). I honestly do not enjoy that feeling or texture, but I get bored when there is nothing to get stressed about.
Its a vicious circle I tells ya!
I’m looking forward to seeing it in bookstores. (Mind, I’ll have to look in the stores in another city because we don’t have even a Chapters. Sigh…) I think it will be that much more enjoyable having been a fan of your blog for so long. 🙂
Its also good to see another “Futurama” fan. I love that show!