Two neighbor children, a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, ride their bicycles that have no pedals. I watch them from my upstairs office window as they ride along the street that’s fairly level. They push with their feet and when they get the bicycles rolling they lift their feet and steer the bicycles, not with pedals, but with balance.

I realize that’s a really neat idea. They’re learning balance which is much neater than having them pedal, lose balance, fall, scrape their knees or break their arms. Having balance is the most important part of the bicycle ride, not the pumping of the pedals.

After they have balance, the pedals can be added and the children can ride with, or without the pedals because they have balance. They can coast down the hill without fear. They can push the bicycle up the hill with their feet. Learning balance first will make their future journeys more enjoyable.

That brought to mind balance in writing, or in life really. I remember my children cramming for exams (well, I’m guilty too). But learning to balance a study-schedule or writing-schedule can make things easier, whether it’s an exam or a writing project.

Too often I’m at the end of a novel with a deadline looming. My writing goes much easier when I practice balance. Instead of procrastinating at the beginning of the writing and then cramming it in at the end, life and novel-writing work best when I have a schedule. I can veer from the schedule when needed, but accomplish so much more when my time is balanced.

Now, I will pick up my feet and my creative wheels will take me through the novel writing journey with perfect balance and ease. Well… forgive me for that. I am a fiction writer. But, balance in life being an asset is a fact.