“Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.” St. Francis de Sales

“Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” Ted Williams

When I came across these two quotes which I’d written on two orange index cards, somehow, they seem connected to me.

I know, I know! These two are odd bedfellows: St. Francis de Sales is the patron saint of writers and Ted Williams is thought by many to be the best hitter in the history of baseball. And he was no saint!

Still, sometimes the universe throws things our way that we need to pay attention to. So let’s see whether there’s a fit here.

First, St. Francis de Sales: What’s he telling us? Don’t waste your time wanting to “be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.”? In a nutshell, be happy with who you are and just work on getting better at being the best you it’s in your power be.

Love who you are and love the person you’re becoming. Love the writer you are and love the writer you’re becoming!

As writers, we’re always trying to fix our drafts, to find better words, to pen a better story. Sometimes this can lead to a kind of discontent with ourselves and our “performance.” We aren’t as far along on the writing path as we think we should be or as we think other people are. This is where the Ted Williams advice comes in handy: “Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.”

“Just freelax” as my son Alex used to tell me when, as a kid, he observed me getting flustered or anxious. Ted’s telling us the same: Just keep going steadily, day by day—you’re bound to get better if you do.

What’s the takeaway here? Just focus on being yourself and becoming better at it being who you are—who you really are. And just keep going with your writing—keep at it and you’ll get better at that, too.

And now, encouraged and being kind to ourselves, let’s all write on!

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