Making a Move

I can’t believe it’s been over two months since my last post. I like to add to my blog at least once a month, so I’m not sure where the time has gone. I have been very busy finishing up The Practical Writer, and right now I’m in the proofing part of that project, which always seems to take forever, but it’s definitely an important part of the process. I’ll tell you more about that project in a later entry.

Even though I do like to post at least once a month, it can be difficult to figure out a topic. This blog started out about my medical transcription career and has now morphed into my writing career. I have written a lot about my first two novels, even including some chapters from both books. I’m not quite ready to post any chapters from my next novel, but I can share with you a sort of funny story about leaving my home in Ohio.  I say “sort of” funny because my husband did think it was, but to this day, I feel bad about my reaction.

On a quick side note, in case you don’t know, my third novel is about my life with my husband, with the characters fictionalized, but the events are true.  We were married in 1977, and about 1990 we both came to the realization that “Andy” was going to have to look for a new job. That meant more than likely we would be leaving Ohio, which meant not only leaving our childhood home, but also leaving behind family and friends—an entire life.

One of the first places Andy was going to apply was in Minneapolis. My response was to tear up and utter ever so pathetically “bleak!” That’s all I could say. He never did apply for that job, and I still feel bad about that. It could have been a great job! I have actually been to Minneapolis and loved the city. It’s just that at the time of the job opportunity, I simply wasn’t  ready to face the fact we were going to be moving.  At that particular moment, I wasn’t  sure I would ever be ready for such a life-changing event.

As it turns out, it took about two years for the job offer to come along. A lot happened during those two years, which will be a part of my novel. We would wind up going much farther than Minneapolis, and I moved into a home that my husband bought without my seeing it first. If that’s not trust in a husband, I don’t know what is! 

 

I’m very excited about getting back to work on this third novel about my life. It’s not so much that our life together has been unique. I am sure there are couples who have gone through much more than I have with my best friend and partner, but I want to share how we handled all the many curve balls that have been thrown our way over our almost 40 years of marriage. Our path has changed so many times, I have lost count, but hopefully I’ll have a better idea of that once the third and final chapter of the “Life” series has been completed. I’m targeting very early in the New Year for that to happen. In the meantime, I’ll be posting about my latest project, The Practical Writer, in a few weeks. Until then, thanks for stopping by and always remember to enjoy your day. Merry Christmas!

Back It or Lose It

We’ve all been there. You are quitting for the day or maybe taking a lunch break after many hours of writing, you close your document and see that “save changes” box, and you hit NO. There’s a sudden power outage. Well, I guess most outages aren’t planned, so sudden is probably stating the obvious. You get the picture, though. There are any number of ways how you can lose your hard work.

Losing a page or two might not be such a big deal. Then again, if those two pages are some of the best writing you’ve ever put forth, it might put a bit of a crimp in your day, yes? Even worse than that—think about how you would feel if you just completed 5000 words on your manuscript, and any of the above happens.  That crimp just became the Grand Canyon! You know the importance of backing up your work. I don’t have to tell you that. Still, it is so easy to get lazy about it.

 

One of the first things I do before I even get started is to give my manuscript or whatever document I’m working on a name. If you work on your document and don’t give it a name, then if you do lose it, you won’t recover it because there’s no way to search for a document that doesn’t have a name, at least I don’t think there is. In today’s technology, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a way to find it. In any event, it’s important to get into some habits so if your work does a disappearing act, at least you hopefully won’t lose all of your writing.

You can frequently hit the save icon on your toolbar, maybe at least after every page or even half page, but also control + s will do the same thing without having to take your hands off the keyboard. In case you don’t know this, Word does do an automatic save once in a while, but I’m not sure how often, so I don’t like to rely only on that feature. Printing is also a good choice. Once I finish a chapter, I do a spell check, proofread it, and then print it.  It’s not necessarily my final copy of that chapter, but at least I can retype it again without losing a word. I actually keep my printed manuscript in a notebook with my notes, edits, and rewrites. I know many authors throw that printed copy away, but I like having it, as it reminds me of all the work I put into my project, although it’s hard to ever forget all the time and effort that goes into writing a novel, but it’s still my preference.

I’ll be honest. I know I should back up my work on my flash drive on a daily basis, but I don’t. You should be doing the same. If you don’t, I can’t blame you for that when I don’t  follow my own advice. I’m still going to strongly advise you do just that. Then if the unthinkable happens, and you experience a computer crash, your manuscript is safe and sound on that tiny device that holds more work than I’ll probably ever accomplish in my lifetime. On a side note, it amazes me how such a small stick can hold the amount of work that it does. On another side note, ever wonder about the difference between a flash drive and a thumb drive? Me either, but just in case you might be interested, here is an article that explains it.

https://www.reference.com/technology/differences-between-flash-drive-thumb-drive-7a3e1d112cbb52a7?qo=cdpArticles

If you have never experienced a loss of your work, I hope your luck continues. If it happens, here is an article that might help you find your work and your sanity.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/316951

As always, I hope this helps you on your writing journey. Thanks for hanging out and enjoy your day.