As promised, I will be digging in to my old journals to create a map of sorts from the beginning of my writing journey, all the way to this moment, which is as far as I've ever been and as far as you've ever been. The present is as far as any of us have ever been, which is what makes it so frightening and exciting.
Except for Johnny, of course, but that just goes without saying.
Indeed.
Before those posts begin, however, here's an unexpected twist that happened in yesterday's present:
I lost my novel.
Well, my novel-in-progress, anyway. I had foolishly been storing it in only one place (my flashdrive), which broke in half when I pulled it out of a computer, unbeknownst to me at the time. I crawled across the floor this Thursday, trying to see if it was still in the computer I had left it in, retracing my steps, poking my fingers in computers, searching for breadcrumbs, etc. etc. etc. Alas, it is gone.
Learn with me, readers! As my oldest and wisest sister always preaches: Save, save, save, in several different places, over and over and over and over.
What does this mean in the long run? I have lost roughly 10,000 words. Probably a bit more. On the bright side, 142 precious pages have been recovered, as I had sent them to a professor to read through and critique. And if I hadn't? I shudder to contemplate.
Close call, there, darling. I'm not even going to lecture you a tiny bit.
Thank you, Johnny. I'm taking this as a blessing in disguise. It's always better to look at losses this way, instead of walking around in dazed circles, wondering how you will ever move on in life. No, not this writer. Even if I wanted to (after the realization finally hit home). No. This was meant to be.
So anyway, remember to SAVE THE WORK YOU INTEND ON KEEPING. And look out, because next post, we're jumping into a time machine!
Write well, save often.
post script: if you're knocking your head against your screen because of writer's block or something close to it, skip over to the wonderful Jeannie Birdsall's website. It's glorious, like her books.
'“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord.
“I will protect them from those who malign them.”
And the words of the Lord are flawless,
like silver purified in a crucible,
like gold refined seven times.'
-Psalm 12:5-6
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