Tip 9: Find your balance

‘Kicking and stretching is equal, simultaneous 50/50 …’

Bikram’s standing bow pose

Bikram Choudhury (love him or loathe him) is the world’s most infamous yoga instructor who built a wildly successful business based on just 26 yoga postures. So what can Bikram yoga teach us about writing a book?

The aim of any Bikram pose is to get your balance right. Not kicking back hard enough? Then you fall over. Not stretching forward with your arm? Same deal.

But kick your leg back, while stretching forward with your arm at the same time and you find equal 50/50 balance.

So what has this got to do with writing a book?

At her latest book launch, award-winning fiction author Toni Jordan remarked that writing a book is ‘50% reader and 50% writer’.

So when she’s writing, she’s thinking about her audience and what they will enjoy reading (the kick back), while simultaneously thinking about what she wants to say and is what she’s enjoying writing (the stretch).

This is a fantastic formula for writing a book in any genre:

Book = 50% reader + 50% writer

I’d even say it’s a fantastic formula for any piece of writing because communication is two-way.

Sure, your audience is important (Hot Tip 4), but if you’re not that into what you’re writing then how are you going to finish writing it?

Balance their interest and your nourishment because if you’re not that into it then why would I be?

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