My 27th Draft
Is it really my birthday?
Last Friday, I got a text from my cousin asking if I was excited for Monday. I replied, “Sure… What’s happening on Monday?” That’s how I was reminded of my birthday.
Twenty seven seems like the oddest of birthdays. It carries none of the significance of reaching twenty five, it lacks the existential dread of turning twenty nine, instead it simply sits as one more year on the other side of twenty five.
An “Actual” Adult
A couple of weeks ago, my Church was reminding everyone that they were hosting a Young Adults Picnic in the coming weeks. Immediately I wrote it off, thinking, “I can’t stand stuff like that.” Only for it to dawn on me five minutes later, at twenty six going on twenty seven, I’m not really considered a young adult anymore. Now I’m expected to be an actual adult.

Being an actual adult comes with both fun and frustrating consequences that weave through daily life. From twenty six to twenty seven, I have published my first novel, Reason and Romance, written the second draft of my second novel, traveled to Hollywood, Colorado, and spent a month in the armpit of Texas. A lot has happened, and here are some of the lessons I’ve learned from the experiences.
Finishing Something
“Unfinished projects can’t compound.” This insight was shared by James Clear in his weekly 3–2–1 email (one of the few newsletters I actually open). Short and pithy, it carries a great deal of truth which is hard to appreciated when you are easily distracted by the next shiny object.
My documents folder is stuffed with unfinished ideas and articles, some died on the vine for good reasons, others were mere laziness. None of them will ever become more than they are, or will make me into a better person as time goes on. To break this cycle of here and there work, I set my sights on not only writing, but publishing my first novel.

Writing, regardless of your skill or competency, is work. I’m thrilled if writing is easy for you, but it takes effort for me. Reason and Romance took a lot of discipline to write, and a lot of energy to publish. It took time and attention which in the moment I was often ready to cheat, to phone in the work with the excuse no-one was going to read it anyway, but I kept at it. I gave it my full effort and what resulted was a book I am very proud of and has had amazing reviews so far.
When interviewed by friend Scott Hebert on his Podcast, Dispatches From a Wildman, he asked if I thought finishing my book had changed me. It’s a hard question because I was going to change anyway, because time does that, but I think finishing my book changed me for the better. It forced me to level up and test my skills in ways they hadn’t before.
As an author, I compare every book or writing project to a different monster to overcome, a different labor of Heracles to tackle. Reason and Romance was the biggest monster I’d yet fought, and my success was not to have a best seller mark on Amazon, it was to write a book I was proud to have my name on.
Finishing things changes us in more ways than we can imagine. Unlike Sisyphus damned to push the boulder again and again uphill, only for it to roll back, we have the chance to take the role of Heracles and actually finish a labor and move on to the next one. The cool part is, with each thing we finish, our legend grows.

I don’t know what new opportunities I’ll have from finishing my book, but I know they’re coming. More importantly, it’s given my the frame of reference for moving onto the next book and the next one, and the one after that.
Accepting Fate
In my most annoyed of moods, or most depressing of moments, I’ve often muttered, “Accept your fate.” I’m a fatalist by nature, believing destiny is laid out for each and every one of us towards a certain end. For most of my life, the idea of accepting fate is accepting the crappy version of the future I believe at the time. Now, I think differently.
Accepting fate isn’t a matter of accepting some version of the future you believe in the moment, but instead embracing the circumstances and context you happen to find yourself in. You cannot always change your circumstances in the moment, but you can take ownership of your actions. To change the fate you believe yourself destined for, change the actions you are taking today for a better tomorrow.
In The Last Kingdom Series by Bernard Cornwell, one of the consistent ideas and phrases which comes up is, “Wyrd bið ful aræd.” Or translated, “Fate is inexorable.” Spoken by Uthred, a Saxon warrior who believes in the fates who sit at the foot of the world tree and weaves the fates of mankind. He views everyone’s destiny as directed by the fates, and inescapable.
We cannot escape fate. It is simply what is. We can fight against it if we wish, but better work with fate than against it. When things go wrong, we can complain, we can rage, we can fight and argue about it being unjust or irrational, but it rarely changes anything. The only path to meaningful change is doing something different.
Chasing Something New
My favorite metaphor for describing the destinies of mankind comes from Caraval by Stephanie Garber. A fortune teller observes that the cat will chase the mouse, and you can predict the cats actions based on the mouse it is chasing.
Your destiny will end at whatever you’re chasing. This is why wealth, status, or whatever grand audacious goal you set feels less meaningful when you attain it. Once you’ve reached the thing, what’s next?
It’s one of the things I love about writing. It offers a beautiful opportunity to refine the process and focus on that instead of merely the results. Instead of chasing the publication of a particular novel, story or article, my focus has become on being the best writer I can. Improving the process and method I use to complete a given writing project.
If you want to change your fate. If you want to have a different destiny than the one you are facing now, it’s a matter of changing what you’re chasing.
Choosing Discipline
This year I’ve realized the intense importance of self-discipline. I’ve heard it said it’s the defining quality of being masculine, and the more I consider it, the more I agree. Self-discipline is when you choose your limits and hold the line. It’s committing to a course of action which may be temporarily difficult, but rewarding in the long term.

Self-discipline is showing up to the gym consistently instead of when you feel like it.
Self-discipline is turning down a last drink when you know you’ve got to drive.
Self-discipline is saying no to the things which are pleasurable for a moment in exchange for better things in the future.
Reason and Romance was written because I had the discipline to sit down a write it, even on the days I didn’t feel like writing. That’s what self-discipline is. Whatever your context, it’s a question of choosing to make the right choice instead of the easy one.
The Future is Written Today
I’ve set my heading for the future, and I’ve chosen what I’m going to chase. Writing is my greatest commitment right now. I will continue to pursue crafting compelling and enjoyable narratives as long as I am able.
I know it’s not something which will make me an overnight success, but the work I put in that no one pays attention to just might.
My motto is “The future is written today,” and I hold to that. I’ve accepted my fate, my current circumstances are what they are, my future is a matter of the actions I will take today.