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Horrible Advice for Talentless Authors

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Green_Man
Primus Omnium
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Quote by Grandpa6
How can I save my stories to continue later.


If you are writing your story in the submission panel that you get to by clicking on "Submit" on the main page it is easy to save as you are writing. At the bottom of the submission panel is the button "Continue". Click on that and the next page will be your story so far. At the bottom of that page will be three buttons. "Publish," "Ed" and "Save." Use the one you want.

Then you would return to "My Stories" to continue writing your story. Make sure to save it often so you won't lose it.

On the "My Stories" page there is a small arrow in the upper right that is pointing down into a box. That may be clicked on to download all of your stories to your own computer. Do that as often as you wish.
RibyFl
Rookie Scribe
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Cheers. Carry on.
Unknown User
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Quote by RejectReality


Depending upon anybody else's server as the sole place your work is stored is just asking to lose it. Save your work on a system you control, and back it up in at least one way beyond your normal save document. I personally have auto-save on, which keeps a backup of whatever I'm actively working on. I also regularly back up my WIPs to a removable drive. On top of that, I have an automated online backup service.


So you would advise against using Google Docs or Word 365 with OneDrive for storage? Speaking as an IT geek, I suspect that most ordinary users would be in better shape using that than their own PC given how little most people actually know about maintaining their systems these days. Even I am using Google Drive as my primary storage and sync'ing it to a local drive for backup. Admittedly, that's partly due to me wanting to be able to work on it from multiple systems but it's also a fairly secure, stable storage. I could do it the way you do for sure, but I do that all day at work and would rather switch my IT guy brain off when I am doing personal stuff.

All that said, I would not rely on the posting system here as my primary storage or writing medium. I write in Word or Google Docs, then copy and paste to the editor only when I am ready to post.
RejectReality
Testing The Waters.
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Quote by seeker4


So you would advise against using Google Docs or Word 365 with OneDrive for storage? Speaking as an IT geek, I suspect that most ordinary users would be in better shape using that than their own PC given how little most people actually know about maintaining their systems these days. Even I am using Google Drive as my primary storage and sync'ing it to a local drive for backup. Admittedly, that's partly due to me wanting to be able to work on it from multiple systems but it's also a fairly secure, stable storage. I could do it the way you do for sure, but I do that all day at work and would rather switch my IT guy brain off when I am doing personal stuff.

All that said, I would not rely on the posting system here as my primary storage or writing medium. I write in Word or Google Docs, then copy and paste to the editor only when I am ready to post.


They could change their terms of service and delete everything at the drop of a hat. If they want to, they could delete pretty much anything we would post here as a violation of TOS right now. Almost everything has a clause regarding obscenity. Google or MS aren't likely to lose your work, but it's still a risk I wouldn't be willing to take. Perhaps for those who share a system with children in the house, or who only have a tablet/phone with limited storage, etc. I still wouldn't depend upon it as the sole repository of hard work.

Wherever you put your WIPs, backup, backup, backup!

I personally can't write without a full keyboard, so working off a tablet/phone/laptop is out of the question for me. I just use them to take notes, and as often as not, it's an email sent from one pen name to the other. Usually some wordplay that made me giggle like the title "One Whore's Town" that I don't want to forget. 18k words and two chapters deep into that one now.
Unknown User
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Quote by RejectReality


They could change their terms of service and delete everything at the drop of a hat. If they want to, they could delete pretty much anything we would post here as a violation of TOS right now. Almost everything has a clause regarding obscenity. Google or MS aren't likely to lose your work, but it's still a risk I wouldn't be willing to take. Perhaps for those who share a system with children in the house, or who only have a tablet/phone with limited storage, etc. I still wouldn't depend upon it as the sole repository of hard work.


With Google Backup and Sync, you have a copy on your hard drive that you can then easily copy elsewhere. If you have Windows File History enabled, add the Google Drive folder and it will be backed up to whatever device (I use a 1TB external HD) you have set up for backup.

In general I agree with you, but not everyone has the technical know-how or gumption to deal with this stuff. One thing that has really changed in the 30+ years I have been using and managing computers is that it has gone from "guys like me who are into this stuff" to "everybody's grandma". Keeping it simple matters.


Quote by RejectReality

Wherever you put your WIPs, backup, backup, backup!


Amen, sing it, brother!


Quote by RejectReality


I personally can't write without a full keyboard, so working off a tablet/phone/laptop is out of the question for me. I just use them to take notes, and as often as not, it's an email sent from one pen name to the other. Usually some wordplay that made me giggle like the title "One Whore's Town" that I don't want to forget. 18k words and two chapters deep into that one now.


Same. I have written a poem or two on my phone (there's one on Storiesspace waxing poetic about a Caribbean sunrise that I wrote laying on a beach chair after watching said sunrise) but still mostly use a PC for writing longer stuff.
RejectReality
Testing The Waters.
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Quote by seeker4


Same. I have written a poem or two on my phone (there's one on Storiesspace waxing poetic about a Caribbean sunrise that I wrote laying on a beach chair after watching said sunrise) but still mostly use a PC for writing longer stuff.


The only thing I've ever written almost whole outside of the house was something I jotted down in chicken-scratches on the back of scrap paper at work on a miserably hot day. It was inspired by the first couple of lines, which are how the sky looked that day. I tweaked it once I sat down, and again when I wasn't happy with the ending, but most of it is as transcribed in bits and bobs throughout that day. It's over on the blue site under my Darkniciad pen name, called "Ride No More". More or less an insane fever dream. LOL
subliminalmessage
Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by Kathrin
Here's an idea: Instead of third person or first person, why don't you write second person. Write it like you're talking TO the reader. That's SO intimate!


N.K. Jemisin uses this technique in some of her work, and it's quite effective. However, she does have the advantage of being a genius.
Once there was a man with a little too much time on his hands...
Green_Man
Primus Omnium
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Quote by Kathrin
Here's an idea: Instead of third person or first person, why don't you write second person. Write it like you're talking TO the reader. That's SO intimate!


Interesting. I've often heard that trying to write in second person is a mistake. I took that as a challenge. Last year I posted a story using second person in a competition here on Lush to test my own abilities. The contest was The Moment You Knew. I came in at 9th place among some 42 contestants and received an RR for honorable mention. Using the second person POV seemed to work for me just a bit. It was a challenge that I enjoyed.