Sight Panic!

by Mark J Braybrook
23rd May 2021

Had a bit of a panic recently when my laptop played up and I'd though I'd lost my current writing project. Luckily, the Apple helpdesk were very helpful and managed to get me up and running again.

Question is: do my fellow writers back up their projects somewhere to ensure they don't lose their work?

Would be interested to hear back.

Thanks

Mark

Replies

I used to back stuff up, but it's all on the cloud now. I do sometimes send my novels to my own email once I've finished them. That's a time stamp type thing in case my work was ever stolen, but acts as an extra backup.

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Victoria
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Victoria Whithear
25/05/2021

Hi Victoria, that's a great idea about sending work via email to date stamp it. I will definitely do that in the future. I know copyright automatically covers you but it would be a heck of a thing to have to prove it in a court of law whereas the email item would act as evidence. Thanks, Mark

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Mark J
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In reply to by dividedheart

25/05/2021

Mark

I back up everything to memory stick. I have a pair of Sandisk Ultra USB 3.0 64 GB. I keep one in my study beside my Mac, for daily backups. The other stick is tucked away in my garage and I use it to save everything I've produced in the previous seven days. It's a backup for my backup! Writers spend too much time and effort creating stories to have all their hard work disappear into the ether. Richard

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Richard Elder
24/05/2021

That sounds like a great idea, Richard, I will need to get a bot more disciplined with my backing up of projects. Do you use a writing package like Scrivener or anything? I'm presuming these types of files are just as easy to back-up?

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Mark J
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In reply to by Richard

24/05/2021

Hi Mark

I work in 'Pages' (Apple's equivalent of Microsoft Office). At the end of a writing session, I just drag and drop the file into my backup icon.
Have you heard of the Hemmingway App? It's a great tool for checking your work ref. too many adverbs, passive voice etc. The basic app is free; you can upgrade for a fee. Richard

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In reply to by markjbra_21449

26/05/2021

Hi Richard, thanks for the tip. I will check out the Hemmingway App and see what wonders it can work for my writing. Cheers.

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Mark J
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In reply to by Richard

27/05/2021

Hi Mark,

I'd definitely recommend looking into Dropbox or Google Drive as an option - the latter is free, but does have a limit on the amount of storage available.

All best,

Clare
W&A Admin

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24/05/2021

Great idea, Clare. I actually have dropbox for music projects I sometimes collaborate on so will look into the practicalities of that. Thanks.

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Mark J
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In reply to by Clare ADMIN

24/05/2021