Coming back into practice

Fosterverse Weekly #12

During last week’s letter-writing workshop with

Jen Vermet

(you can check out the recording here), we wrote a letter to our present-day selves from ourselves as a kid. My mind immediately went to myself as a 12-year-old.

Here’s what I wrote:

Dear Present Day Lyle,

It’s summer now and I’m excited because it’s baseball season and I love playing the game. I’m a good pitcher. It’s fun to know I’m good and that I’m helping my team win. We’re the best team in my Little League. I love everything about the game, including practicing hard at it to get better. I’m not sure if I’m good enough to become a professional ballplayer, but you never know!

I think practice is a very important part of the game, and life too. The more you practice things, the better you’ll get at them. It sounds simple, but it’s hard work.

I’m curious what you like to practice now. Are you still playing baseball? Or is there something else you do that brings you a similar feeling? I’d love to hear about it.

Your 12-year-old self

With a busy summer family schedule and contracting COVID recently, I fell out of my writing practice. Sure, I’ve been consistently writing these missives. But I haven’t been writing solely for myself as much as I usually do.

What I love about the letter from my younger self is that he didn’t have some financial goal in mind. Yes, he mentioned going pro, but it wasn’t a maniacal focus of his. He just loved playing baseball for the sake of playing baseball.

It caused me to reflect on what I practice for the love of it nowadays. 

I started off publishing my newsletter with visions of building a huge audience, writing a book, signing with an agent, getting picked up by one of the big publishing houses, and becoming a bestselling author. But, over time, I realized that what I was getting out of it was more important than notoriety or financial gain. Writing has given me a deeper understanding of my life experiences and has helped me process what I’ve gone through. 

There are countless drafts I’ve written that will never see the light of day. Something needed to move through me and onto the page, and that was all I needed at the time. Yet through writing those drafts, I was practicing becoming a stronger writer. When I stopped writing on a consistent basis, I struggled to get into the flow of it more, whereas when I practice writing more regularly, it helps my thoughts make their way onto the page more easily.

With how busy we all are, it can be challenging to commit to practicing something that in all likelihood won’t support us financially. It can feel indulgent to spend time writing for yourself. It’s not surprising that work responsibilities can easily win the day because they’re so tied to your livelihood needs. But don’t discount the feeling of accomplishment and relief you can experience by getting your writing done. 

A writing practice is not dissimilar from working out at the gym. Nobody regrets having done the workout. It’s getting to the gym that’s the hard part.

I invite you to come back into practice with me by joining one of our free Writing Circles.

Lyle

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📅 Events

Beyond the Facade: Exploring Alter Egos & Deepest Secrets with

Jasmine Pierik

Tuesday, July 23rd at 5pm ET

Foster Signature Writing Circle with

Lyle McKeany

Wednesday, July 24th at 4pm ET

Published is Better Than Perfect with

Nicholas Goodey

Monday, July 29th at 6am ET

Foster Signature Writing Circle with

Lyle McKeany

Thursday, July 31st at 4pm ET

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⚡️ Published

Small things, lovingly done by

Asha Sanaker

Embracing the Zen of collaborative writing by

Dylan Tweney

Sight for sore lies by

Tobi Ogunnaike

In defense of the fly-and-flop by

Sarah Wood González

Finding Myself in the Wilderness by

Alicia Bonner

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✨ Foster Effect

X post from Jeremy. Nguyen

X post from Jen Vermet

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🔥 Inspiration

Thank you for sharing

Dan Hunt

!