“Playing Tennis with Yourself” – reflections on writing the book

Back when this journey began in the Scottish summer of 2019, James Anderson, the chief investment officer of Baillie Gifford, took me aside after watching a dour goalless draw between Heart of Midlothian and Ross County, and told me that he had heard that ‘writing a book was a terrible idea, it’s like playing tennis with yourself’.

That remark stuck. It worried me so much I was ready to quit before setting off on this lonely journey. I got lucky and stumbled on a long list of unique and inspirational tennis players who returned my serve whenever it was called upon. The best return serve came from my fact checker Rebecca Aydin – she arrived on centre court at the last minute and was like a gift who kept on giving (or a fact checker who kept on checking). I learned a lot about myself and how I reason  by taking that extra step to bring her on board. I worry the role of a fact checker has been diminished in today’s publishing industry. You can’t price what’s priceless.

My advice: you need to play tennis with someone when you're writing a book. Hitting a ball against a wall won’t cut it. Across the net might be your publisher, or agent but expect the unexpected – you’ll stumble across inspirational individuals where you least expect. Keep the antennas up. It might be the queue for coffee at the library, or the swimming lanes of your local pool – everyone’s got a story and part of that story might influence yours.