Writing a Book Wasn't What I Expected

It was much worse

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Do you ever look at graphics like the picture above and think that’s how writing a book works? I did.

As a kid, I believed writing a book happened in one of two ways, and I blame films for it. First, you used a typewriter and sat by a window. This author was usually an older person who couldn’t let go of the past and continued to use a mechanical device to hammer metallic keys with ink into paper.

I’m old enough to have grown up with a typewriter in my house and even typed some of my first school papers. I can still hear the bell ringing when I reached the end of the line and had to move the bar back to the left. Then, I had to turn the wheel downward, which moved the paper up so I could type on the following line. I used more whiteout than possible due to stuck keys or another mechanical failure I didn’t understand. I must admit, though, I grew to love the click of the keyboard. Even today, I prefer loud, clacky keys that echo across the house when I type. Films such as Misery, Schindler’s List, and Superman (1978) contributed to my fascination with typewriters.

However, the second method I knew how to write a book was much older than a typewriter—pen and paper. This method was the artistic approach, I thought. Wise philosophers and thinkers from ancient Greece to China filled my head with the art of writing. Imagine my surprise when my family and friends constantly told me that I had terrible “man” handwriting. In Texas, we called my handwriting “chicken scratch” because it looked like I gave the paper to a chicken, and the chicken scratched all over the page. So, when I started writing in a journal, I assumed my ideas matched my handwriting—terrible and incomprehensible.

I have a college professor to thank for changing my beliefs and encouraging me. Professor Troudau knew my poems and creative writing were promising at the University of North Texas. My grades in his communication performance class were always A’s, and everyone wanted to partner with me. After graduating, I left school with many poems, short stories, and scripts, which I compiled into my first book. I titled it In Progress and released it independently on Apple’s iBook platform.

So, despite the films I watched as a kid or the dreams of great philosophers writing under a tree, my first book was easy enough to write but hard to publish. Formatting, editing, proofreading, and more editing were always needed. Not to mention, Apples iBook software was a nightmare to use. But more than the tools, art is a process and never truly ‘done.’ I knew I wanted to reach an equilibrium between perfection and my desire to publish. Eventually, I settled for ‘good enough’ and uploaded the book in the fall of 2008. After more than 14 years, the book has been downloaded three times.

In 2022, I released a second version through Amazon’s Kindle platform for a wider audience. Again, the material was already there and mostly appropriately edited, but the software was as brutal as before. Amazon’s Kindle tool reformats your document to fit a Kindle e-reader, and strange things often happen afterward. This left me with hours of adjustments and corrections to perform. Unlike last time, though, I had an audience.

I had obtained over 1,000 Mastodon followers and started a Medium account that was growing well. Surprisingly, more than three people purchased! To celebrate, I created, printed, and framed a piece of paper that declared I had sold my first copy. My friend Robin always says to celebrate your wins, and even though it might be pretty conceded of me, I agree. My wife agreed to be the signatory.

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Almost as soon as In Progress was released, I wanted to start over again, but with new content and not poems from 15 years ago. I began writing about Taoism (pronounced Daoism) at the same time I was putting the finishing touches on In Progress. I figured I could use those writings as another book or booklet. The journey, as always, was not easy.

It should have come as no surprise that writing new material was more complicated than simply gathering old work. The question, “When is this book done?” was more complex than ever. I thought I’d start with my first ten articles, proofread them, and publish them by the summer of 2023, perhaps in spring at the latest. By April, I ran an entire publishing organization of hundreds of writers’ religious, philosophical, and spiritual articles. The time I had available for writing my articles was shrinking quickly, and my choice of topics expanded.

To make matters worse, Medium chose me to join the boost nomination program. This program requires publishers to scour their publication’s articles to find the best of the best stories and submit them. The process sounds easy, but the pilot’s political, emotional, and time-consuming nature proved stressful. Sometimes, having a moral compass is a drag, but that’s a story for a different day.

Fast-forward to December 2023, and my life has slowed. The publication isn’t experiencing the same explosive growth; my editing team is talented and capable. So, I returned to the book I never wrote. Now, armed with 170+ essays, choosing them was more accessible and more complex simultaneously. What made one story better than the other? Should this book stay with the topic of Taoism or move to a memoir?

I decided to stay true to my original intention, Taoism, but another problem arose. These articles were written between February and December 2023, and because I had never written at this pace before, I noticed my writing style changed wildly during this period. Which style did I want to choose? Should I update all articles to this new style or leave them as written to be true to the original work? I needed help.

So, unlike the first book, which I edited myself, I decided to let a professional copyedit. Luckily, I already knew several from my year on Medium. One of the editors at my publication even volunteered! After performing as many proofreading, spell-checking, and grammar corrections as I knew, I sent it to

Nanie Hurley

Today, I can finally breathe a sense of relief for a few weeks.

I plan on releasing my second book in January or February 2024 on Gumroad, Substack, and a few other places for a small price. After nearly a year of work, I present to you the title.

While I have my philosophical concerns with charging for content designed to help readers grow spiritually, I also would like to recoup some of its creation expenses, so I’ll charge a small fee. It likely won’t be over 12,000 words, so it’s a quick read.

This year, 2023, was a wild ride. I grew an online writing career out of thin air that now pays enough to cover the cost of my student loan payments. I’ve also made friends worldwide, read passionate and thought-provoking essays from much better writers than I could ever dream to be, and I plan on writing an entire year-end review. Maybe my goal for 2024 will be to write a third book.

The great thing about life is that it keeps going until it stops. So, I always have new material, characters, and stories to tell. I just need the time and patience to see clearly through the fog of my mind.