The Trials and Tribulations of Writing: Tricia's Story

I remember when I first started to write my first book. I was so excited because the idea for it just came to me in the middle of some contemplative thoughts spurred by a traumatic event.  For just a moment, I needed to drift away to a place where I could escape the present anguish and pain I was going through at the time. I noticed I do that from time to time. I've since learned that it's part of a writer's DNA. Nevertheless, as soon as I returned from LA-La land, I pulled out my laptop and began capturing it on paper. My fingers couldn't move fast enough for the outpouring of thoughts formulated into words reading across my forehead like the stock ticker on MSNBC. 

Before I knew it, the outline was complete from beginning to end, with character names, places, and the storyline formulated etc..etc..and now I just needed to fill in the blanks of the details. After a couple of days went by, I decided to close my laptop and rest on what I just created. The next time I opened my laptop, my book was GONE!!  My hard drive just stopped working.  After many attempts, to no avail, I gave up & took it to the experts. As the computer geeks proceeded to tell me that my work, my creative juices, in essence, my baby...was DEAD! It was on a lifeline and they saw little to no evidence of brain activity and would have to do major surgery to gear it up again so that they could possibly retrieve the information. After hearing that it could run up to hundreds to thousands of dollars, I began to feel ill & tuned out. Devastation was not enough to describe that feeling of loss for your work. One's writing is a piece of art; it can't be REcreated nor duplicated. Initially, I didn't give up & went to several different experts who ALL told me the same thing or just to take a loss. “A LOSS????”  “Are they crazy???”, I screamed to myself. How does one just take “a loss” with his/her very first book? I finally conceded. I cried for months and developed a writer's block for almost five years; until one day...God placed another book in my belly and I began to write again.

     After having started the second book, eventually He brought into remembrance the first book and I was able to continue writing the rest of the story. His anointing reawakened me to whom He created me to be...once a scribe forever a scribe!

     Whenever I tell that story, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have backup for your work. Nowadays, even as advanced as technology is, a writer MUST back up his/her work in several different flash and external hard drives. Six years ago, I wasn't a GOOgLE Doc enthusiast yet (I’m ashamed to admit it was my daughter who put me on to becoming one) and concepts of the cloud was just being introduced into mainstream. Now, even with Google and other cloud programs, I still have my work backed up in several different places. I figure, once my books are published then I can erase many of the original drafts but NEVER the final one.  Always retaining the original to serve as a reminder to never leave work vulnerable like that again!

    

     I took the liberty of asking for feedback regarding other users of their experiences with products that are worth the investment.  An external hard drive still remains my #1 choice for saving all work.  Designate one solely for your writings already published or yet to be published. In addition, memory stick/ flash drives preferably with a password feature is what I use when I’m on the go or can’t get a signal for wi-fi to sign in to my Google doc account.  Finally, using a program like Google which already has auto update.

My top 5 choice of products based on personal or public review that can be found in any tech or online  store:

-“Western External” Hard Drive ($29.99-$109 depending on the memory capacity)

-“My Passport Ultra” ($60-$65)

-“Lexar” flash drive ($6 -$9 bucks)

-“Scandisk” flash drive ($3-$6 bucks)

-Google; create and use an account that provides cloud memory and the ability to share your work with for example, your editor after you’ve finished your book.

     In my case, thank you Jesus that the Holy Spirit served as my flawless reminder but we must also continue to be diligent and treat each time we're able to put that pen to the paper, as a serious moment in time where we connect to a part of the essence of our being. ~ Tricia Scott