Don't Back Down - DO BACK UP!
Hola, Aspiring Writers & Dear Readers. It recently occurred to me that while I've blogged about several different aspects of novel writing, I have failed to mention A REALLY, REALLY
That would be backing up what you've written. I don't mean with the strength of your convictions (also good), but "backing up" as in Make Sure You've Got A Second Copy Of Your Masterpiece!!!
Let's say you've just written 1,000 (or twelve) fabulous words. You are en fuego, AW! Yet you will be a sodden sobbing heap o' ash if those words suddenly disappear into The Great Beyond. We've all had documents, revisions, blog posts (*^%$#@!) vanish into that not so sweet hereafter. Losing a blog post is bad enough, but losing a scene or a chapter - heck, even a paragraph! - I've carefully crafted, sweated over and painstakingly eased into existence is the pits.
So make sure you back it up!
If you write on a computer like I do, you've got lots of options:
If you write on paper, then (a) really?, (b) copy machine or (c) today's word of the day is AMANUENSIS. (and you thought it was "wont"!)
And when should you back up your document? Every time you've written something new. Every Single Time. Even if it's only a sentence. Just make it a habit - it only takes a few seconds, right? And the risk of losing your epic tome is too dreadful to imagine - so back it up! Always Back It Up.
Also... don't forget to hydrate.
R E A L L Y
important subject!That would be backing up what you've written. I don't mean with the strength of your convictions (also good), but "backing up" as in Make Sure You've Got A Second Copy Of Your Masterpiece!!!
Let's say you've just written 1,000 (or twelve) fabulous words. You are en fuego, AW! Yet you will be a sodden sobbing heap o' ash if those words suddenly disappear into The Great Beyond. We've all had documents, revisions, blog posts (*^%$#@!) vanish into that not so sweet hereafter. Losing a blog post is bad enough, but losing a scene or a chapter - heck, even a paragraph! - I've carefully crafted, sweated over and painstakingly eased into existence is the pits.
So make sure you back it up!
If you write on a computer like I do, you've got lots of options:
- save it to a thumb drive (my current practice)
- burn it to a CD
- e-mail it to yourself
- print a hard copy
If you write on paper, then (a) really?, (b) copy machine or (c) today's word of the day is AMANUENSIS. (and you thought it was "wont"!)
And when should you back up your document? Every time you've written something new. Every Single Time. Even if it's only a sentence. Just make it a habit - it only takes a few seconds, right? And the risk of losing your epic tome is too dreadful to imagine - so back it up! Always Back It Up.
Also... don't forget to hydrate.
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