Always have backups!!!

Hi, everyone!

I feel bad shouting, but if there’s one rule that I will scream from the rooftops it’s this:

“ALWAYS HAVE BACKUPS!!!!!”

I don’t care if you write it by hand, have a laptop, notes on your phone, use post it notes, video it, make an interpretive dance, or even decide to send it by way of morse code, but the number one rule is to have backups! You never know when or how your writing could just disappear poof! or get destroyed and it’s important to have some physical or digital version of your writing available in case tragedy strikes.

About a week or so ago, my laptop of just under ten years decided it didn’t want to keep going. Thankfully, my dad has been able to work on it and find a way to recover some of the data, although I believe the harddrive was corrupted in some way.

But I’ve had past experiences with this laptop that told me it was getting ready to retire so I made copies of my photos, writings, school papers, and more for me to have access to on flashdrives. Granted, I need to track down those flashdrives, but I believe my Christmas holiday season would have had a more dire note to it.

I tell this story because I’ve also been the one on the other side who panicked when something she was working on DID in fact disappear. To this day I have absolutely no idea what happened to my laptop years ago that made my writing piece disappear, but I remember the panic. There was the stress tugging at my chest as I tried to breathe and stay calm on the back deck of my house late that night.

It’s a terrifying feeling and I would never wish it upon anyone, ever.

I always print my drafts once they’re completed. First draft, print. Second draft, print. Third, print. And so forth. This gives me the timeline of edits and changes I’ve made so if something were to happen, I can pull out the most recent draft and not have to start from square one which saves time and headaches. I know this might not be the method for everyone, but it’s a tried and true method that will survive which is all one needs sometimes.

If you’re new to writing or maybe you've been working on something for years, this is the best advice I can give that will benefit you in the long run. Backup your work whenever and wherever you can because it might be the only copy you have if something horrible were to happen.

I pray it never does to you or anyone else, but the reality is it can happen, it has happened, and it quite possibly will happen.

My favorite phrase to recite to my self is practice makes prepared. In this case, practicing the art of backing up your work, whether it be a digital or physical backup, will never be wasted.

Past and future you will thank present and past you for it.

Trust me!!!

Thanks for reading!

Prose_