One of A Writer’s Worst Nightmares

I shudder to think it nearly happened to me. I woke up this morning intent on working on the next chapter of my manuscript. I had visions of my characters, scenes and dialogue eager to be written. My mind was set on what I wanted to accomplish.

And that’s when it happened, my computer refused to load. All I could think about was the previous chapters I wrote, the scenes I labored over, the scenes I adored. I fiddled with my computer, booting and rebooting, flicking switches, pressing keys, while all the while thinking of how I should have backed up my work.

It’s such a simple thing to do. All it takes is a few minutes to put it on a disk, floppy or ipod, or even print out but I thought I was safe. It’s easy to dismiss the little things, especially after a long day of writing, editing, networking and spending time with family and friends. But it’s those little things that have a nasty bite; the loss of chapters, manuscripts, family photos, recipes –you name it.

I’m pleased to say, my incident this morning had a happy ending. My computer finely woke up from whatever stooper it was in and I was able to retrieve my manuscript which I immediately backed up onto my ipod.