Issue 34: Commit to the Thing
Don't send out the search party! I'm back!
Hi friends!
It’s been a minute, right? I hope you’ve been well.
There’s been a lot happening since we last spoke, yeah? Lots of things in the world, in our lives, at our homes, and at our jobs.
Me? I’ve kept my head down. There was work to be done, relationships to nourish, seasonal illnesses to overcome, and words to be written.
I wrote a lot this year. These last several months were intense. I dug in. I put down letters. Those letters formed sentences, paragraphs, and pages that ended as books or games.
Then, when the writing needed to breathe, I read. The well, when low, must be replenished. 25 books this year. Some good some bad. A bad book can teach us just as much as a classic or a best-seller. Sometimes, best-sellers and classics are bad, too. But I found what I was looking for, and what I needed.
Most of the books I read were digital. Most, but not all. Funny how I have embraced something that younger Wes viewed as the destruction of society.
If you continue scrolling, you’ll encounter some thoughts on writing… on committing to your ideas, no matter how bonkers they may seem. Scroll beyond that little treasure, and you’ll learn how my current projects are shaping up (or not shaping up, depending).
I’ll be celebrating a book release in January. I hope you’ll celebrate with me.
I’ll celebrate another book release in April. I hope you’ll be there to celebrate that one, too.
I hope you had a wonderful 2024. I hope 2025 is even better. I hope this new year brings you closer to your goals, your dreams, your passions, and your people.
Happy holidays.
Happy New Year.
What Happened Last Issue?
Last time, I discussed weird dreams! Thankfully, I haven’t had any more of those lately!
Commit to the Thing
In the world of writing, we gotta commit to our ideas. After all, if the idea made us excited enough to put our butts in the chair, put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, then clearly there is something worth pursuing. And pursue it we should, no matter how strange, quirky, or outside-the-box that writing may feel as it develops and finds its legs.
I can’t count the times that I’ve been writing something and thought, “This is too dumb,” or, “This thing is too strange.” Hundreds? Thousands? But I can’t just dip out when my brain turns on the logic sensors to worry about what a reader might think. All those things I’m writing are being written to please me. It’s easy to lose sight of that.
But writers have to commit. To write scared or timidly is an insult to yourself, your readers, and every writer who has come before you. Commit to the idea. Only when it’s complete can you truly see it for what it is and feel it for how it feels.
Those ideas, that after a few hundred or few thousand words, seem too dumb, or too strange, or too silly are often the best displays of our talents and writerly voices. We should seek to write the things that only we can write. Treading ground that has been previously well-tread is the only—and ultimate—writing sin.
If we can’t believe in our own quirky ideas, we can’t expect readers to invest their precious time. We need to grab them by showing thoughts and ideas in new and exciting ways that will welcome the readers into to our unique worlds and experiences. And once we have them firmly in our grasps, we should get as wild as we want to.
I can look back at my body of work—be they comics, books, games, or fiction—and the projects that I hold in highest regard are the ones that I forced myself to commit to, even though my internal voice of reason (or my friends) tried to vote that idea off the island.
Commit to the idea like I did in the second grade when I accidentally showed up to school with my shirt on backward. It was a plain red shirt with a breast pocket. But because the shirt was on backward, the pocket was positioned awkwardly over my left shoulder blade.
I didn’t make it far into the day before the class loudmouth pointed out that my shirt was on backward. I insisted that it wasn’t backward. It was supposed to be like that. It was a dumb thing to say.
Later, the teacher pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to go to the bathroom so I could put my shirt on correctly. A voice in my head—logic—informed me the jig was up. I’d been caught and I should probably cut my losses and wear my shirt like a sane person. Instead, I committed more. I insisted that the teacher was mistaken, and the pocket was precisely where it was meant to be.
When a third student loudly called me out in the school cafeteria that afternoon, I committed again. I assured them—and anyone in earshot—that this “back pocket” was a new style, and soon, everyone in the room would want a shirt just like mine.
During recess, a kid who I’d never spoken to before approached me on the playground. He got close and asked in a hushed tone, “Is the pocket really supposed to be on the back?” I leaned in closer. “It really is,” I whispered back. I had fully committed to this dumb, strange idea.
I refused to cave to logic or teachers or loudmouths. The final bell rang and class let out for the day. The same loudmouth who tried to expose me as a moron that morning flagged me down as I prepared to board my school bus. “Where can I get a shirt with a back pocket?” he asked. “Can’t tell you,” I said, and I boarded the bus. I imagine the shirt consumed loudmouth’s thoughts for the rest of the day. He wanted nothing more than to be in on this latest trend. He had bought in to my wild idea despite it being ridiculous and outlandish.
No matter how dumb an idea may feel after a few hundred words… no matter how strange it seems after several thousand… no matter how ridiculous it feels after you’ve reached written THE END. With the proper execution, that wild idea will find an audience—its loudmouths, if you will. But first, you must commit.
Project Updates!
Unit 44 [Comic Book]
Issues 11 and 12 are complete and will release in the new year. To my Unit 44 fans, thank you for your patience!
The Obsoletes [Comic Book]
Issue #3 coming. Eventually. It’s halfway done, but… things are slowing it down. Stay patient, please. It’ll be worth the wait!
Where Is Tornado Alley? [Young Readers Nonfiction] - Releasing January 7, 2025
Holy moly! This book releases in just a few short weeks!
This title makes a surprise return here, because recently I was notified that over on Amazon, this book has been flirting with the top new releases in the genre of… Disaster Books for Children…?
Nice! Not a genre I ever planned to chart in, and yet, here we are! This book—my first in the New York Times best-selling Who HQ series releases on January 7, 2025!
TIME for Kids: 300 Fantastic Facts!: Space [Young Readers Nonfiction] - Releasing April 15, 2025
Since my last newsletter (specifically about this title!), I got to see some interiors from the book. And guess what? They’re amazing! But if you’re not interested in outer space, you’ll probably be bored to tears. In either case, check out some interiors below.
The Weirdness [Young Readers Nonfiction] - Releasing January 6, 2026
Edits on this title finally came back from editorial and, let me tell you, it was an absolute joy to read this manuscript with fresh eyes.
The first thing I did was jump deep into the manuscript to see if a joke I had made—and was super proud of—survived the editor’s pass. Spoiler: it didn’t. That’s okay. I knew it was a long shot. But this is still the most fun I ever had writing a book.
The title will be announced around April of 2025, and I’m so pumped to tell you more about it next year!
The Insincerity [Young Readers Nonfiction] - Releasing July 7, 2026
I essentially spent the past three months writing this book. It was an interesting experience because it wasn’t a topic I had much built-in knowledge about. Before I could explain it to others, I had to understand it myself. And now I know things. Cool things. Interesting things. I need to get invited to a dinner party so I can tell the cool and interesting things to other people.
The manuscript went off to the editor, and I’ll await notes in the new year.
This book also got a release date! It’ll tentatively be out in the world in July of 2026. That means that the book will be officially announced… *does some quick math* … A YEAR FROM NOW!
Publishing, man… it’s so silly!
Upcoming Releases!
Unit 44 #9 & #10 - Available now!
Unit 44 #11 & #12 - Coming soon…?
Where Is Tornado Alley? - January 7, 2025 [Available for preorder]
TIME For Kids: 300 Fantastic Facts!: Space - April 15, 2025 [Available for preorder]
Unannounced Young Readers Book - January 6, 2026
Unannounced Young Readers Book - July 7, 2026
I’m glad we did that together!
Hey, me too!
I’m Wes Locher. I’ve been writing professionally for more than twelve years. I write video games at Magic Tavern, and books at Penguin Random House. I love helping other writers to demystify the process of making a living through words. This is my newsletter.
Keep up the good work! It’s always so interesting to commit to the bit in writing. First, you should never reject a bad idea because bad ideas sometimes spawn good ideas. And, sometimes, a bad idea is just a good idea you have to work up to in edits. It could end up being your favorite bit.