From time to time in this space, Balboa Press publishes articles written by our authors in which they share some aspect of their self-publishing journeys. These are the words of Sharon Ballantine, author of “The Art of Blissful Parenting”. For more info on Sharon or her book, check out her website. Download the Balboa Press free publishing guide to receive more information on self-publishing your book with Balboa Press.

Have you ever thought about why you want to write a book? Are you currently in the process of writing it? The process of creating your dream on paper may feel like a passion that wants to come through you and cannot be stopped. It may feel like something you’re just meant to do. The motivation of writing your book may feel inspired and flow easily, or can sometimes feel like manual labor that is not creating what you had in mind.

Solely you will determine what you experience when you’re in the process of writing your book. You are in control of your experience. What about writers block you may ask? That too. It is a limiting belief to think that outside forces or anything outside of our control can determine how much fun we have or how easily our ideas flow while writing our book. Doesn’t that feel powerful?

Tapping into your Internal Guidance System (IGS) will supply you with everything you need in allowing your message to flow easily through you in the timeline that serves you best. This is about you. Your IGS speaks to you in the language of feelings. Tuning into how you feel before you take any action on writing will determine your outcome. Information, intuition and messages can only be received and understood when we feel good. This is the key. Feeling good is our state of receiving-when we feel positive emotion. It is being in alignment. Negative emotion blocks off everything we want until we find a way to feel good again.

Here are some tips to honoring your writing process and having the most fun at it. Remember it’s all about how you’re feeling in the moment. When writing my own book, I practiced each of these!

• Do you want to write at this moment or are you feeling like you should? Do an activity, daydream or anything else, which makes you feel good before you sit down to write.
• If you’re on a certain timeline, then budget the time you know you need in order to get it done. Feel good first.
• If you are on your own timeline, don’t make one up unless it feels good to do this. Start when you feel inspired and stop when you don’t.
• Resist the temptation to judge yourself and your process. Give yourself permission to write when you feel like it and take a break when your inspiration does.
• Trust that whatever is coming through you is right if it feels good. Second guessing yourself will set you back by putting you out of alignment. Embrace how great it feels to feel good and be productive too.

What about when you finish your book? Have you decided in which way you want to publish and when? I loved the book I created, but I felt the time wasn’t right to publish. I had become very practiced at using my IGS and I trusted it. I knew that I would know when the timing was perfect. I would feel inspired and motivated to take action in getting my book published.

The day I realized the time was right was a great day indeed! It was over a year after I finished writing.

During my book writing experience, feeling good and trusting in my personal process was paramount. I knew that I would have my “perfect” book if I truly honored how I was feeling. Set yourself up for success by honoring your own process. Each of us has special and unique ways of writing and taking action in our lives. Practice ways of feeling good and practice them often. Not only will you create your best book, but you will also be creating your best life.

Balboa Press authors who’d like to share a 350-600 word experience related to the self-publishing of their books, are invited to do so by sending a message through our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BalboaPress, by tweeting us @BalboaPress, or by emailing blog@ balboapress.com. We may not be able to use every story, but we will read and consider them. Balboa Press reserves the right to edit stories for content, grammar and punctuation accuracy; as well as for space.