WRITERS, HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?

Daniel Beals
2 days ago
6 min read

You created a piece of gold, but... No one will ever see it.

Of course it has.

New or aspiring writers, hate to tell you, but this is going to happen to you, too. You're going to write a whole pile of amazing shit that no one is ever going to see! Hell, what you write likely won't even be used... by you.

Welcome to our brains. Getting an idea out onto paper is barely half the battle.

So, Where'm I Going With This?

You all know I love comics. LOVE them. Grew up on them. No, actually, they raised me. It's how I know basic things like "quasar is a type of star" and "fascism bad."

Back in 2013, I created a workplace comedy web series set IN a comic store called —

For the record, yes, I was IN this series, as well, though I'd be hard-pressed to refer to it as acting.

It was about a colorful cast of miscreants for whom geek cred wasn't just a joke, it was a currency. With the help of an amazing writers' room, a killer cast (plus a gifts-from-the-gods guest cast), and generous-beyond-words crew, we produced something I was genuinely proud of.

A LOT of the fun of this show was that I had to occasionally create fake comic characters and, thus, comic BOOKS to use on screen as props.

One character, The Walkabout Assassin, made it on screen and became a favorite. The origin of that particular character doesn't really stand the test of time, but a specific run of Superman was being published at the time, and I wanted to poke some fun at it with a tale of an assassin who walks everywhere and doesn't really kill anyone or do anything.

Not my best gag, but it doesn't matter.

But we're not here to discuss the concept that MADE it onto the screen. We're here regarding one that didn't.

The Lost Pitch

I was going through old files recently, and I found a literal time capsule. A fake pitch doc I made for the second character created for Geek Cred — never used, never seen.

And, today, I'm going to share it for the first time ever.

Behold:

The joke behind War Woman was simple, though admittedly pedestrian and immature in hindsight. Geek Cred was trying to follow in the off-color shoes of shows like It's Always Sunny, so… the idea was a playful, somewhat judgmental twist on the superhero genre: What if Wonder Woman was actually a man in drag? This comic book retcon of our own 70_year-old icon, aka War Woman, was meant as a quick gag, a cheeky nod to comic book tropes and gender expectations.

While The Walkabout Assassin made it on screen, the web series' limited crowdfunding prevented the episode featuring War Woman from being produced. We had scripted 10 episodes, but could only make 5. The episode in question would've celebrated the release of War Woman #375, an anniversary issue of the titular comic in which the legendary heroine's new status quo is revealed. One of the store employees would've tried to sabotage the book's release. Sadly, like the episode of Geek Cred it would’ve been part of, War Woman #375 never came out.

Bonus features in comics are always a window into what a project was before it became fully formed — unused character designs by an artists, an author's original pitch materials, or creator forewords in graphic novels. Despite its comedic simplicity, I wanted to explore what a real comic book featuring War Woman might look like. I was inspired by writers like Grant Morrison, whose original pitch for New X-Men was included in one of the hardcover collections. Morrison was famous for his out-of-the-box reinvention of a 60-year-old franchise that everyone at the time had assumed there was nothing new to do or say with. That's the spirit I was chasing, even if I was only pretending.

But here's the thing about pretending with conviction — sometimes you surprise yourself.

What you're about to read is a foreword written in character as War Woman's comic author Lane Harrison, followed by a few scripted pages and my rough outline for War Woman 375, a landmark issue of the War Woman series.

Read 'War Woman 375'

[Scroll through: WAR WOMAN ART by Dean Zachary — covers and character designs that made this feel genuinely real. Dean took a gag and gave it a mythology.]

And Now, Looking Back...

It probably doesn't mean as much to you, but reading the foreword I'd written back then was a revelation for me. The younger me wrote with a boldness and clarity that I sometimes feel like I've lost over time. Confidence in creativity is fragile. It can be shaken by criticism, self-doubt, time, and the overwhelming presence of new technologies like AI, which blur the lines between original talent and imitation.

But I reread this old document that I don't fully even remember writing, and I was so damned proud of myself. A lot of work went into this very dumb gag, none of which was ever seen.

This rediscovery reminded me that creative confidence comes from within. It's about trusting your instincts and your unique perspective. The War Woman pitch document is proof that I had the ability to craft compelling stories and characters, even if the world was never going to see them.

Picking Up The Sword

I wasn't as fully formed as a creator, nor as educated and evolved as a man, when I wrote this. And yet it still contains a shocking amount of thought and heart. If I did this over now, I'd factor in the world at large a bit more. There are probably some pretty profound things to say about gender and identity that I would need to do a lot more homework on. But wouldn't that be a story worth telling? Couldn't the world today use a reinvented War Woman? Who's to say?

Reflecting on this, a few lessons stand out for anyone struggling with creative confidence:

Trust your early work. Sometimes your first ideas hold more value than you realize. Don't dismiss them too quickly.
Create for yourself first. The pitch was never meant to be published, but writing it helped me clarify my vision.
Embrace imperfection. The War Woman concept was rough around the edges — but that didn't stop it from having potential. Today, it could be a tour de force story if executed maturely.
Use past work as a benchmark. Revisiting old projects can show how far you've come and remind you of your strengths.
Ignore the noise. The creative world is full of distractions and doubts. Lock yourself away from ALL of it. Focus on what you know and what you want to say.

Comedic actor Brandon Johnson as the creator of The Walkabout Assassin, definitely enjoying his own material.

Moving Forward

Rediscovering the War Woman pitch was more than a nostalgic trip. It was a reminder that creativity is a journey with ups and downs. Confidence can fade — but it returns stronger when you reconnect with your core ideas and trust your voice.

If you're facing doubts or feeling overwhelmed, take a moment to look back at your own work. You might find hidden gems that remind you why you started creating in the first place.

Who knows? Maybe we'll see War Woman again.

Until then…

THE NEXT BIG THING!

Time for an update.

I've written countless features, shorts, novellas, comics, whatever over the years. I've written a lot with other writers.

But I've written THREE very strong, fully complete feature scripts. Solo.

And right now, after a year or two down, I am writing what will be my FOURTH badass feature script! More on what is down in a future blog, but for now, I'm going to chime in at the bottom of these blogs with brief STATUS UPDATES ON MY NEW W.I.P.

Ready? Here it is. I wrote an entire 28-page treatment for this silly little thing, and as of today, I have written ACT 1!

Now dig through your old files, find your forgotten gems, and revel introspectively about the roads you've traveled to be who you are today. The person who wrote or created that thing back then has no idea how great they were -- and you are.

Don't want to miss out on future peeks into my creative process, read my words of inspiration, or glimpse captivating reveals of just what the heck I'm working on?!

SUBSCRIBE!

PS There're five never-shot episodes of Geek Cred, including episode 8: "This Means War, Man". That script is available to read, as well... IF there's enough interest. 😎