This week on Wordwranglers, we're talking about dead manuscripts, what have you done with yours?
Mine?
In the shed.
Lost on floppies.
Some on a computer I can't open.
Yeah, all over. I have 15 dead mss. As mentioned, I have five of them printed and stored in boxes in the shed, which drives my husband crazy. What is all this junk, he roars periodically.
Like Liz said yesterday, I have several lost on floppies. I thought they were such a great storage. Not. I can't access any of them.
Last but not least, I have some on a computer I can't open. In reality, I only have about five manuscripts I can actually access easily. They are burned on a CD, safely stored right here on my desk.
I don't think much of what's lost is viable, but it's not a good feeling to not have them handy if I ever should need them.
And you? Where are your old mss stored?
Mine?
In the shed.
Lost on floppies.
Some on a computer I can't open.
Yeah, all over. I have 15 dead mss. As mentioned, I have five of them printed and stored in boxes in the shed, which drives my husband crazy. What is all this junk, he roars periodically.
Like Liz said yesterday, I have several lost on floppies. I thought they were such a great storage. Not. I can't access any of them.
Last but not least, I have some on a computer I can't open. In reality, I only have about five manuscripts I can actually access easily. They are burned on a CD, safely stored right here on my desk.
I don't think much of what's lost is viable, but it's not a good feeling to not have them handy if I ever should need them.
And you? Where are your old mss stored?
Oh no! I have 3 completed MSs that will not be published, but they are on google docs and flash drives.
ReplyDeleteThat sucks that you can't access them, darn technology! And I'm pretty sure if you go to New Egg - you can access them. So if you ever find yourself REALLY needing them, I will do my best to help you. My hubby is a computer nerd, he's amazing.
Unfortunately I don't have many manuscripts to keep track of since I have only been writing a little over 2 years. All of mine are on 2 flash drives. I use 1 flash drive daily and the other is one I just update so that I have 2 copies in case the first gets lost or damaged. I think I have a total of 4 ms, with about 3 in progress and lots of other do dads regarding the craft of writing stored on there as well.
ReplyDeleteNot very exciting is it? lol
Interesting post D'Ann :)
I have mine saved in my emails and on a flash drive--two flash drives.
ReplyDeleteThat really smells you can't access some of your MS's.
I hope there is a way that you can eventually access.
I have boxes of handwritten manuscripts in a box in the basement, too, D'Ann! Also have them saved on computer, flash drive and in email. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI keep mine on flash drives and my computer. Don't have to many. Certainly not 15 - WOW!
ReplyDeletemine are stored on flash drives and my laptop's hard drive.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a Best Buy - with Qeek Squad anywhere near you - maybe they can offer a solution???
http://www.easeus.com/resource/drive/floppy-drive.htm
website might offer an idea
CDs and online storage. They're all just waiting for me to open them and resurrect them. Some patiently, some not so patiently. Sigh. So many manuscripts, so little time.
ReplyDeleteSince the great crash of not one but TWO computers, I'm a back-up freak. To my hard drive, a flash drive, an external hard drive, and I email everything to myself. How often do I do this? Every Day.
ReplyDeleteI wish my complaint was having 15 MSS to store. Oh darn, the tragedy of it all. But alas my friend, I'm a newbie in your shadow.
Flash drives and external hard drives are my friend...at least for storage... The rest? You'll have to read about tomorrow when *I* blog. :)
ReplyDeleteI store my MSs on memory sticks... Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteNeecy
I store mine in flash drives and an external hard drive we use to back up our files. I actually have a floppy disk reader. It's external and plugs into the computer via USB. Like Daryl said you could find a computer store that could remove the files from the computer. I've had it done before after getting a virus on my computer that locked me out. We had a friend who built computers and he recovered our files.
ReplyDeleteI have one in a box in the closet, several on disks that I cannot access, a couple on flash drives, and the rest on my computer. I really need to get my WIPs on a cd or internet storage.
ReplyDeleteI have mine stored on a flash drive and the hard drive of my computer. But I need to backup everything somewhere else--I'm just paranoid that way. And in case technology as we know it tanks, I'm planning on printing out everything too. (If you don't own stock in Kodak ink, you might want to buy now. LOL)
ReplyDeleteI did lose my 400 page dissertation when we changed computers. Of course I have that in hard copy but I doubt it will ever be put back on the computer. So I understand your pain at not having those ms at your fingertips, D'Ann.
Great post!
I was able to pull off three old manuscripts that were floppies. We have an old computer and sometimes that floppy drive works and sometimes it doesn't. When it worked last time, I re-saved those manuscripts onto a flashdrive. Someday, I'll rewrite them into something publishable. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteOne the best pieces of advice I ever got was to email myself my writing files. I've emailed a couple versions of Bix and saved them in an email folder. It's always accessible. As far as my past stuff, I'll fill you in on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteWhat I mind is "losing" those people from those first mss. It's like really, really good friends moved and didn't leave a forwarding address.
ReplyDeleteGood post.
I think my heart would be broken if I lost that many stories.
ReplyDeleteI have 2 stories that I stared years ago before I seriously started writing for publication. About 7 years ago I wrote the first 6 chapters plus about 20 pages of world-building stuff on a futuristic science fiction romance that I really wish I had now. It's one of those stories that won't let me go and I'd love to finish it someday. Well, the only copy I have is on a corrupted floppy disk.
ReplyDeleteI also have the first 5 or so chapters of my first contemporary Western that I started about a year after the science fiction one. I think it might be on another corrupted disk, but it might have been only saved on an old computer that has long since been sent to the scrap pile.
Now, I'm more careful. I have everything saved in triplicate and also back everything up by sending the stories to myself through my Yahoo email. I figure that way if something happens to my computer, and the 2 thumb drives I save on, I'll have a copy I can access from a different computer.
Great blog, as always, D'Ann....