Monday, August 29, 2011

Why You Should Back Up Your Work

Around this time last year I was just about to finish up on the very first edit of my very first manuscript. (Yay!) I was only a few chapters from the end and (Ack!) the hard drive on my laptop died. I lost all of my edits and the last three chapters of the manuscript. (Boo!)

Lego Twitter Fail Whale by tveskov

By then, I was so over my manuscript that I didn’t care that it disappeared into hard drive heaven. I didn’t lose any sleep because I was in the loathing stage of our relationship and, as I’ve said before, that usually occurs about the time I really start digging into the editing process.

Honestly, I was happy to move on because Brilliant Idea #2 was pounding on the door and I was raring to get started on it. In the end, I’m glad I decided to forget about the lost manuscript. I was able to take a break from obsessing about it for a good long while and, because of that, I’m completely over the loathing stage and back to being infatuated. Right now, though, I’m forcing myself to finish editing Brilliant Idea #2 before I get side tracked again. It’s so easy to get sidetracked and I NEED a finished manuscript like a pirate needs orange juice.

So now that I’m back on board with my first manuscript, I’m having some serious regrets about losing all those hours that I spent slaving away on my manuscript. Can’t believe I let something that like that slip through my fingertips.

I think it goes without saying people, back your stuff up.

2 comments:

  1. I'm sorry if this is my 2nd post. I really wanted to respond to this post, and for some reason it didn't post when I used my wordpress account

    Your story is so heartbreaking. If I could hug you I would. Writer's love their stories. It's why we go through the amount of work and time it needs to become the story we imagined. You have such a positive altitude on moving forward. I'll be looking out for when you get it published so I can get a copy.

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  2. It's funny because I feel like I would have missed out on a huge learning experience if it hadn't happened. Life does that sometimes! :)

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