Now you see it, now you don't...
Jun. 23rd, 2011 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sandra_lindseyI bet all you guys have really organised computer filing systems, and back everything up regularly in three or four different ways... well, I aspire to this sort of behaviour, but in the mean-time I'm still at the "remembering every couple of months or so that what's on the memory stick and what's on the network drive are supposed to be the same thing" stage.
About 2 years ago, I had my most productive writing days ever. In two days I wrote close on 10,000 words of a story, plus figured out most of the world-building, characters, major plot points etc. Then something happened in my non-writing life which needed my attention and the story's mostly languished since...
Every so often I think I'll have a "quick look" at it though, and that's when the trouble starts:
First, I look on the network drive. Not there.
Then, I look on the green usb stick. Not there.
Then I start checking all kinds of random older folders on the network drive, convinced that's where I've saved it. Nowhere to be found.
Then I start to worry, and think "oh no! most productive two days of my life, down the drain!"
At this point I usually remember that I wrote it using the old laptop (whose hard disc gave up the ghost 9 months back), and that I was running it under Ubuntu a the time. "Aha!" I think, "It's one of those awkward things where the computer can't see it when it's running under Windows!"
So I re-boot into Ubuntu on the desktop, and go through the same checks...
...and check again...
...and curse myself, because by that point I've become convinced I must have saved it to the laptop's (now defunct) hard disc.
...
:-(
...
Then, after some swearing at myself, I remember what I named the file, and do a search for it...
...and the computer says "Here it is, on the purple usb stick! Didn't you know that? And here's this really useful related file as well!"
And, after a few more choice phrases, I go "YAY! I'm not as dumb as I thought!" and decide that I really ought to put a copy in the directory of my stories on the network drive.
At which point, the computer says "no."
One of these days I'll get a copy saved elsewhere, but in the meantime I hope I've raised a smile from anyone who's done something similar :-)
About 2 years ago, I had my most productive writing days ever. In two days I wrote close on 10,000 words of a story, plus figured out most of the world-building, characters, major plot points etc. Then something happened in my non-writing life which needed my attention and the story's mostly languished since...
Every so often I think I'll have a "quick look" at it though, and that's when the trouble starts:
First, I look on the network drive. Not there.
Then, I look on the green usb stick. Not there.
Then I start checking all kinds of random older folders on the network drive, convinced that's where I've saved it. Nowhere to be found.
Then I start to worry, and think "oh no! most productive two days of my life, down the drain!"
At this point I usually remember that I wrote it using the old laptop (whose hard disc gave up the ghost 9 months back), and that I was running it under Ubuntu a the time. "Aha!" I think, "It's one of those awkward things where the computer can't see it when it's running under Windows!"
So I re-boot into Ubuntu on the desktop, and go through the same checks...
...and check again...
...and curse myself, because by that point I've become convinced I must have saved it to the laptop's (now defunct) hard disc.
...
:-(
...
Then, after some swearing at myself, I remember what I named the file, and do a search for it...
...and the computer says "Here it is, on the purple usb stick! Didn't you know that? And here's this really useful related file as well!"
And, after a few more choice phrases, I go "YAY! I'm not as dumb as I thought!" and decide that I really ought to put a copy in the directory of my stories on the network drive.
At which point, the computer says "no."
One of these days I'll get a copy saved elsewhere, but in the meantime I hope I've raised a smile from anyone who's done something similar :-)
