The first Wednesday of the year and time once again for the
Insecure Writers Support Group. Founded by Alex Cavanaugh over one year ago and
still going strong, this group offers encouragement and support for writers,
insecure or not.
How many of you are suffering holiday withdrawal today?
After a month of preparations and celebrations it is not easy to hop back into
the routines of normal every day. I feel as stuffed as the turkey we ate on New
Year’s Eve and just as roasted. My writing has suffered during the holiday
season and to make matters worse the one short story I wrote for a new
anthology disappeared from my computer. All that remained was the title on a
blank page, how I did that I have no idea. Most likely I have saved the wrong
document and discarded the one I should have saved. Has that ever happened to
you, and what did you do? I realize that I have to get beyond this computer betrayal,
hopefully I have learned a lesson about not rushing things and to be more
careful about what I save. Now I just have to get beyond that empty page, put
the holidays behind me and get a grip. Any suggestions?
22 comments:
I hate when stuff like that happens! I loved your term "computer betrayal". I'm sure your replacement story will wind up being even better than the first. Good luck!
That's a shame about your lost document, Siv. Fingers crossed you can conjure up some remnants from your memory; you might even have an improved version in the end!
Good luck getting out of the festive slump, I know the feeling well!
Too bad you lost that story. Yes, I feel stuffed too. Lol it's hard getting back into the groove of things.
I sure don't want to be at work today. Lol
Oh my gosh, that has happened to me! I saved the wrong document by overwriting it to another. I'm so sorry that happened to you. Now, I always "Save As" first and whenever I'm at a stopping point I email myself the document - crazy I know. But, that came from our backup system not working and I wasn't taking any chances anymore.
Great IWSG post!
Awww about the short story. And computers are supposed to be our faithful servants! (Line stolen and adapted from "Friends" :D) I agree with Catherine - if you rewrite it, you mind end up with something much better!
Jumping back into the blogging world is a good way to do it.
Your document might still be there! Do a complete search before giving up all hope.
I've been there before, hard to get back to real life. The only solution I've found is to keep working until I MAKE something wonderful happen. I'm sure you've done same thing before,and I hope you can do it again! Good luck to you :)
Yes, SIS,
I just happened to me too last week. Ten pages I had worked on had never been saved. Now it's back to those pages to see if I can remember what I changed and HOW I changed them.
IT sucks, but it seems to happen to all of us no matter how careful we are. Our computers are machines after all and they do FREAK every now and then .... just like their owners. LOL.
Bite your tongue, curse a bit in English and Norwegian, THEN get to work! Holidays ARE over, it is time for work. REVE up those engines and LET THEM RIP!!!!!!!
Ugh - I dread that happening! I always back up on a memory stick as well, but I guess that's no good if you've gone and saved the blank file! Best of luck with the re-write - look at it as an opportunity. Close the door on Christmas - it will be back in no time anyway! Enjoy January's fresh start :-)
I can so relate to this Siv! It's like BAM! 'real' life is back. lol
My writing fell of a cliff the last two or three weeks as well, but I'm hoping to make up for it in the next few days. If I can get off the blogs long enough...
Happy 2013 btw! :-)
To save work and because I edit as I go - I do a lot of 'save as' to keep one original. I've got to back up my stories and the novels, so thanks for the reminder.
We had a power outage recently that went with one big swipe - just in our neighborhood, a full block. I started getting dystopian thoughts.
About that story, good luck with the recall.
It's horrible when things like that happen hope you can maybe find it hidden somewhere. Can't offer any suggestions on how afriad I'm completely clueless when it comes to tech stuff!
I could hardly wait to get back into my normal routine. I'm tired of the holidays and all the parties. Not to mention, I had the Glowstick from November til December 27th. I'm pooped out.
Happy New Year!
Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
I've lost a story or two, that really stinks. Sorry to hear that.
I'm so ready to be in a normal routine again. Happy New Year!
I'm still in a holiday stooper.. Check your temp files for your work.
I know you must want to cry, losing an entire short story. Magical Mystical MiMi had a thought. Check your computer's temporary files. It may be in there. Or the file button on your Word Document. Perhaps if you right-clicked and hit UNDO that might work as well.
Happy New Year :-)
Huge Hugs! Happy New Year, my friend. I hope 2013 is your best year, yet. My writing and everything else has suffered mightily these last weeks and I need to dig myself out. I've got your back, if you'll have mine. Together we can do it!
Sadly, I don't have advice. The last time something similar happened was 26 December 2010, when I managed to permanently lose a 70k word rewrite.
I STILL haven't looked at the first draft. Funnily enough, though, something kind of made me think I should, this year.
And now I stumbled across this post, and I can't help wondering if it's a sign...
Good luck with overcoming that empty page!
Oh, man--that stinks to lose something completely! I've lost stuff, so I hear you. I try to save every time I get up and email stuff to myself every few days. Plus most of my writing gets saved on an external hard drive, so if one computer died, I can easily move it to another.
awww sorry that happened----i have lost everything a couple of times too!---hope you have a good new year :)
January is always a tough month for me. It helps to look ahead at something you're looking forward to. That's how I get through it!
Bummer about losing your short story. I find computers to be wonderful and terrible at the same time. They make our lives so much simpler when they work well. Can you imagine editing by hand??? When our documents disappear into a void... we wish we had something on hard paper, no?
I like Karen's idea of emailing yourself. Of course, you have to save it first in order to do that...
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