This time last week, I was feeling pretty pleased with all the progress I was making with various writing and work projects.

Then on Monday, my kitchen burned down. The fire fighters, neighbours, friends and everyone has been amazing but it's been a real shock.

Now that I've had a few days to adjust and things are moving forward (although it could be 2-3 months before I can cook in my own kitchen again), I realise that my "emergency plans" weren't adequate.

When it happened, I was just relieved to get out myself. If it hadn't been contained by the amazing fire fighters so quickly, I'd have lost all my work (including all the careful backing up I do).

As it is, workwise, I've only lost a few days' concentration and some books that were in the kitchen.

Luckily, I was ahead of deadline on the 6 most urgent features I'm working on so that's not a disaster.

You don't have to be melodramatic, working yourself into a state thinking about all the potential disasters that could befall (we writers often have overactive imaginations).

But do think about the kind of emergencies, accidents, illnesses and other disasters that could negatively impact your writing.

When you back up work, keep a memory stick off site (whether at a friend's house or in a safety security box). I've been doing this but the most recent back up was a couple of months ago so I'll be more careful from now on.

Also, consider the kind of insurance you need if you work from home. It's hard to predict the unpredictable (and who wants to give deepest fears energy anyway?) but taking basic precautions will help you relax and enjoy life.

© Eve Menezes Cunningham 2008. All rights reserved.

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Years ago, when I started reading books that promised to help get me published, I read them with a heavy heart. With too many of them, the tome was one of gloom and doom. Too many people wanting to write, too many changes in the publishing industry, tortured artist…

This didn’t motivate me and I stayed in jobs where I was doing a bit of writing but not in any field I felt particulately passionate about.

Then, when I was preparing to go it alone in 2004, I came across a delightful book (and I’ve been lucky enough to interview the author a couple of times) which I now recommend to many of my clients: Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara Winter was practical and funny.

I learned a lot about running a business without feeling that I was struggling through a text book. I then came across Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell’s absolutely delightful The Renegade Writer which is filled with tips for journalists who haven’t taken the most obvious route. What set it apart from the other journalism books I’d read, with their template letters for agents, editors and publishers, was the upbeat tone.

Linda and Diana addressed these templates to Dear Ms Publish Me, or Dear Wondrous Editor.

They also include practical advice from other freelancers and, liking Kelly James Enger’s advice, I bought her books Ready, Aim, Specialise and $ix-figure Freelancing. Again, I was laughing aloud as well as growing my writing business (I puzzled non-writing friends and family by reading especially funny bits over the phone, too).

She recommended Bob Bly’s Secrets of a Freelance Writer and he, too, adopts an upbeat “You can do it!” tone. One of his sample email addresses is DelightfulMessage@yourcompany.com

If you’d like to know more about these books (and others that may be of interest), please visit www.coachingwriters.co.uk for full details.

Whether you read them or not, consider your own query emails and letters. Take another look at your book proposals. Is your message cheerful and happy or is there a sense of desperation?  

By focusing on the joy that publication will bring you, you'll feel more motivated, happier and productive.

To order your FREE Coaching Writers Information Kit, please email eve@applecoaching.com

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Many writers are naturally quite shy.

If you feel you clam up or ramble on the phone and in person, it's natural to want to hide behind written words in emails and letters. These can be edited so your meaning is completely clear.

Then again, when you send of an email query or post a book proposal, even though you've laboured over every letter, you have no idea how it's going to be received.

If you were talking to the editor, agent or publisher, you'd be able to gage their level of interest from their tone or, in person, body language.

Next time you have a meeting with a client and are worried about being "face to face", remind yourself of the advantages. You can always send an email when you get back to your office to summarise what you've agreed and ensure you're both on the same page.

Meeting people can be fun for even the shyest of writers. Expand your comfort zone by testing out one new networking opportunity each week (or if that really feels like too much, each month).

As you meet other people, maybe through a writer's organisation like the NUJ or through a local business group, you'll get better at it.

And when you automatically plan to send an email, just ask yourself if this is something that could be handled more effectively on the phone. Often email will be perfect, but by checking in with yourself each time, you'll be more likely to notice opportunities to get to know editors, agents and publishers better by phone.

There are all sorts of things you can do to boost your confidence before a meeting or scary phone call. But something you can start doing right now is to think about the result you want from the interaction.

Imagine yourself hearing you've got the commission at the end of your meeting or phone call. Visualise the payment on your online bank statement. Feel the joy and excitement as you think about the interesting people you'll be talking to.

Then make that call / go to that meeting... 

If Business Coaching and NLP for Writers would help you, visit www.coachingwriters.co.uk to find out more and sign up for free tips.

© Eve Menezes Cunningham 2008. All rights reserved.

Too many people live their lives in the past. They worry about what they’ve done, what they haven’t done, what they wish they’d done… Some people work themselves into such a state, they lose sight of where they are and where they can be.

1. UPDATE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS LOG – Ideally, you should be doing this everyday (listing all the things you’ve done well each day, both small and huge) as few things build lasting self-esteem faster. When this becomes a habit, any regrets about commissions lost / ideas not acted on etc. will be tempered by all the fantastic things you’re doing. Too often, people only focus on things that they’ve done wrong. Start redressing that balance today…

2. REMEMBER HENRY FORD’S WORDS – “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eye of your goal.” Regrets are just another distraction from where you’re going. And Henry’s Ford Motor Company was his third attempt at setting up a company to manufacture cars. Keep your focus on what you want. Breaking into that glossy magazine? A book deal? A column?

3. DAYDREAM A LITTLE – It doesn’t matter what’s gone wrong. Shake it off and think about your best case solution scenario. Really get into it and imagine how your happy ending (for this solution) will look, feel, sound, taste, smell and so on. When you can taste the result you’re after, you’ll be well on your way to making it a reality…

4. IDENTIFY THE CRITICAL VOICE – If you had critical parents / teachers and so on, you may have become hypercritical of yourself. Next time regretful thoughts flood your brain, see if you can tell who’s influencing them. Disassociate from them (using a cartoon voice will help – try it!) and watch their power over you evaporate…

5. TRY SAYING “NEXT TIME” - If you still fight the urge to regret, shift the focus just a little. I knew a person who used to spend her whole life apologizing. After several people pointed it out to her, she started saying “Thank you” instead of “Sorry” and we could practically see her blossom. Similarly, telling yourself that “next time” you’ll do whatever differently is much more positive than fixating on past mistakes…