Monday, October 15, 2018

#IWSG -- Save Your Work! Twitter Pitch / WEP Challenge / Anthology Contest

We've all seen it. An author posting on social media saying their computer died and they didn't save their current masterpiece or that they lost power and lost all their major edits.



It takes seconds for hours worth of work to just disappear and that can be the difference between being a happy author or being a homicidal maniac author ready to pull out their hair.

There are lots of options for saving your work, a quick save to the device you're on, saving to a jump drive, or getting an external drive that can be taken off site.


 
My favorite way to save? Email. If I make major changes to my manuscript I send the whole file to three different email addresses with a version number and date. This way, I know it's not just on my computer and I can access it anywhere I can access my email.

Now we just need to REMEMBER to actually save!

Do you have any great tips for saving your work?

***
We have a date for the next #IWSGPit Twitter pitch – January 15, 2019!

Visit the IWSG site for details.

You don’t want to miss it.





Don’t forget that the IWSG has partnered with Write…Edit…Publish!
This month’s challenge - Déjà vu or Voodoo.
Add your name to the list, write your story, post on your blog or Facebook, and visit others.
And there are prizes!
Full details at the WEP site regarding genre, length, etc.
Déjà vu or Voodoo – do you?






Finally, this is the last month to submit to the IWSG Anthology Contest.
Young adult romance is the genre and masquerade the theme.
Entry is free, just need to be a member of the IWSG on some level.
See the SITE for details.
Don’t miss this opportunity to be in a royalty-paying anthology!

15 comments:

nashvillecats2 said...

It must be agonising for a writer to lose work, some good advice you gave Susan.

Yvonne.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I back up my work every single time!

Unknown said...

Just spent two days searching for a story that I had written months ago. Not only does it help to send it to yourself via email. It can also help to make sure that it is isn't an email account that you use often. That way it doesn't get lost in the flood of junk mail.

I have started to share my work with trusted friends on Google docs. I do not recommend others do that but sharing it (even if they are just sharing it to another on their accounts) tends to make it easier to find.

Tyrean said...

Thanks for all of the reminders! I save to my regular PC, but I try to save through e-mail or a USB drive at least once a week, if not more often.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Oops. My previous comment is from my teaching e-mail. Sorry about that.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I save everything to an external hard drive that goes with me EVERYWHERE.

The Cynical Sailor said...

I back up to an external drive (probably not as often as I should) and I also email to myself.

Juneta key said...

Had thought of creating an email just for saving work, but that is an excellent idea for easy access. I have a yahoo mail I have 25 years at least with stuff long ago still there.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Yvonne - Thank you! Thank's for swinging by!

Alex - That I believe. I'm lucky I remember what day it is.

Jessica - Frustrating not to find what you need.

Tyrean - Great idea!

L. Diane - The hard drive is great. I'm just worried I will damage it when I bring it with me.

Cynical Sailor - I'm glad to see other people do this, not just me. :)

Juneta Key - Great idea!

HMG

Pat Hatt said...

I back up recent work on a usb and then do it 4 more times about once a month on four other hardrives. I've used email a number of times too.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi Heather,

I email as well. I use my thumb drive for backup and well... Lots going on this month!

Tom Austin said...

Thanks for reminding me to do it. Just sent chapter 16 to my external hard drive. Individual chapter, photos used, research everything is there.

Ornery Owl of Naughty Netherworld Press and Readers Roost said...

I used to do the email one but had gotten out of the habit. I'll have to add it back in as one of my salvation methods.

Mac said...

This is one of the reasons I absolutely love writing with Scrivener... I have it set up so that it automatically saves my work frequently, and also automatically uploads back-up copies to my Dropbox. Bless you, technology.

Bernadette said...

I find Google docs to be the best. It automatically saves and is even easy to search for.