Monday, February 6
George Brett says
So, I saw Hall of Famer George Brett speak on Saturday morning at a Friends of Baseball fundraiser. I also had a post up here most of Saturday and Sunday, but then I somehow deleted it yesterday when I put next post below. Technology is my friend. Anyway, then I couldn't remember what the post said. Go figure. But I just did, while I was out running in the dark with Westley, two miles under the beautiful edge-of-nowhere starscape. What George said about baseball I thought applied to my writing career. They are:
1) Don't think. He said the best baseball players and other athletes are those who don't think on the field or court. He said the more you practice, the more you play, the less you have to think. And the less you have to think, the better off you'll be. He won three batting titles, cheated with pine tar and made the Hall of Fame with one of the highest yes vote in history (98%, fourth highest to be exact). The point applies to me, too: The more I write, the more practice I get, the more natural it becomes and the better off I'll be. So: don't think.
2) Expect to win. He told a story about how when he came up the Royals weren't that great, and they took the field hoping to win. Then, when they started winning and their confidence grew, they took the field expecting to win. And of course, they were perennial winners for the next decade. So, this applies to me too, as I'm am a notorious hoper: I hope to get my book published, I hope to find an agent, I hope to finish a novel, blah blah blah. So, if I listen to George, and I should, then I should expect to finish my novels, I should expect to find an agent, and I should expect to get it published.
1) Don't think. He said the best baseball players and other athletes are those who don't think on the field or court. He said the more you practice, the more you play, the less you have to think. And the less you have to think, the better off you'll be. He won three batting titles, cheated with pine tar and made the Hall of Fame with one of the highest yes vote in history (98%, fourth highest to be exact). The point applies to me, too: The more I write, the more practice I get, the more natural it becomes and the better off I'll be. So: don't think.
2) Expect to win. He told a story about how when he came up the Royals weren't that great, and they took the field hoping to win. Then, when they started winning and their confidence grew, they took the field expecting to win. And of course, they were perennial winners for the next decade. So, this applies to me too, as I'm am a notorious hoper: I hope to get my book published, I hope to find an agent, I hope to finish a novel, blah blah blah. So, if I listen to George, and I should, then I should expect to finish my novels, I should expect to find an agent, and I should expect to get it published.
