 |
| Anyone else remember these? I do! |
Do it. Do back up your writing. All of it. Even the bad stuff.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
You see, I never think about the importance of making sure my writing is backed up until I realize I've lost something. Last week, I accidentally deleted a YouTube video (shockingly easy, might I add). And unfortunately, I couldn't find another copy of the video file. I suspect it's on an old laptop that doesn't really work or a flash drive I can't find. So, there we have it.
After that, I came to realize how I never think to back up my short stories, articles, and other content pieces. They are all in various places. Probably what stops me from making this a regular habit is that I don't have a "central" system. Every now and then I'll think to email myself files, but they quickly become files I never look up again. Not to mention the multiple versions of stories I tend to save in various places.
So, like I said, it isn't until I've deleted or lost something that I even think to back up my work. My announcement for you today is back up your writing. If you have a website, back it up. Do it regularly. Make an appointment for yourself like it's a teeth cleaning.
If you aren't sure of where or how to save your work in extra places, here are a few ideas:
1) Your Google Drive.
Okay, this is probably obvious and it wasn't until recently that I thought to sort of organize it, but that is a good place to store writing.
2) Bublup.
Don't stop at Google Drive. Try other services. I like using Bublup for a variety of reasons but especially to store files. Sign up here using my link.
3) Email yourself.
Kind of obvious but a fail-safe, especially if you email a bunch of files to a few different email addresses you use (am I the only one who has like 3 or 4 different emails?).
4) Dropbox.
Much like Google Drive, my Dropbox account is a disorganized mess. But I'd rather have mess of files that I'd like to keep than lose something I wanted in the first place.
This is my call to action:
Go save those files.
You won't realize what you need until you've lost it.
In other news, I did find a handwritten story that I feared I accidentally tossed. Turns out, it was stuffed in a manilla envelope, obviously with the intent for me to save it and type it one day. I think I know what my next public service announcement will be: type those stories.
Happy writing everyone!
7 comments:
Nicole--I remember floppy discs. I think they were before those discs (diskettes? what WERE those things called?)
Your advice is great. These days, we lull ourselves into a false sense of security. We think the places we're storing work is a safe place. It's not always the case.
We sure do! A definite false sense of security. I use my moments of realizing I've
lost something as a reminder to save it all!
I just did a bunch of this last night and have a note to start cleaning and organizing them in Dropbox. Maybe it's spring cleaning our files time too. :)
I love that Margo! A digital spring cleaning is a necessity I think. :)
Thanks, Nicole, but you missed one: an external USB drive. Two terabyte drives cost less than $100 USD.
Most of the other ways are great for backing up a few files, but not gigabytes of WIPs, videos, and photos.
An external hard drive is definitely our favorite method, Kathy!
--SueBE
Thanks for the reminder, Nicole! I am always way too slack about backing up my work. I use Dropbox to store all the articles and photos for the magazines I work on, but since I had to upgrade to a business account last year I have more than enough room to store some of my more important documents. I also have an external hard drive as a backup.
Post a Comment