But Whether Men Do: One Year Later

It's hard to believe it's been one year since it happened. One year ago today, "But Whether Men Do" was released and my dream of being a published author finally came true. Although I often let the event feel trivial in retrospect, I should remember that it's an important moment in my career as a writer, and I suppose the anniversary needs some form of commemoration.

It's hard for me to think about But Whether Men Do these days. Partially because I have a new, hopefully better book for me to focus on, but mostly because I'm a far different person now than when I was working on it. I wrote most of the book when I was in high school and...I'll be blunt, I was extremely inexperienced. I had a lot to learn as a writer. Even now, I still have a lot to learn, though I'm able to realize I...made a lot of mistakes back then, to put things politely.

When my book finally got published, I let my hopes get higher than they should have. I think there was a tiny part of me that seriously believed I had "made it" as a writer by having a single book published. That from this point onward, I'd have an easy life, filled with everything I could want, all because of one book. Naturally, that didn't happen, and I've spent a lot of time beating myself up, complaining that the blatantly unrealistic didn't come true. I shouldn't think that way so often.

Maybe getting published for the first time wasn't quite the big event I thought it would be, but if I focus too much on that I'll lose sight of the fact that it still is big, in its own way. I've done something so many aspiring writers only ever get to dream of, and I shouldn't take that for granted.

Maybe BWMD wasn't the masterpiece I hoped, and maybe its publication wasn't as momentous as I hoped, but I think the important thing for me to do is to treat both the novel and its publication as lessons learned. I've gotten my name out as a writer, however slightly, and I've learned a decent amount of what to do (and perhaps more importantly, what not to do) when writing.

Anyway, whether you bought a copy of "But Whether Men Do" or just helped cheer me on from the sidelines, I sincerely thank all of you for supporting my dream of becoming a writer, both in this past year and, hopefully, the years ahead. It's been an unusual journey taking "But Whether Men Do" from a single sentence, typed with no real idea of what it would form into, to a published novel available for the whole world to read. While I could keep reminiscing, I'm in the middle of a second adventure at this very moment.

Thanks again for all your help with But Whether Men Do in the past year. Sorry I can't spend more time looking back, but right now it's important for me to look forward.