The Importance of Saving Your Work

            Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned in writing is to back up your work. It seems like such an obvious idea, but few will actually take the time to secure their writings before leaving the computer. I speak from personal experience when I say it is essential to constantly save your work when writing and editing. Here is a bit of a sad story to illustrate the point.

            Only a few moments ago, I was in the process of editing a short work of fiction. I reached page seven and found to my amazement that no further pages existed to correspond with my hardcopy. The electronic version only had seven pages, whereas I typed a full thirteen! Where did they go? My memory gently reminded me of some computer error I had a few weeks ago, so I am now supposing the ms became entangled in that situation and half the story went the way of the Dodo. I have not edited in a few days, so the issue was not immediately recognized. When I checked my backup jump drive, it, too, had only the seven page document on board. Lesson One: check the full ms before closing down for the day. You may have an error and could possible restore the document before saving the corrupted file to your disc. I even tried my “doomsday disc” and found I had only two pages saved there. I was out of luck.

            It is not a total loss, since I have a hardcopy of the work, and here lies lesson two: always print off a hard copy when you are finished with the story. It is not only needed for editing purposes, but also for the safety of the work. I have a hard copy now, so I can at least retype the document and have it electronically again. It’s a lot of unnecessary labor on the part of the writer, but at least the whole endeavor will not be permanently lost.

            Above, I mentioned my “doomsday disc,” a jump drive which I used as the proverbial doomsday vault of my literature, the last bastion should everything else fail. Normally, I am obsessed with backing up documents and I always pride myself on having multiple copies of a single document. In this case, my obsession failed me, and my doomsday vault was found to be empty. Lesson three: always save to such a disc as the doomsday disc when a work is completed (before editing); when you complete a read-through, save it there once again. Believe me; you will thank yourself for it.

Your writing is too precious to lose, and the time put forth into the craft is far too valuable. Keep multiple saving discs and always secure your work, or you will end up like this disgruntled writer who now has to waste time retrieving a story which was already written!

Well, that is all for now. As always, good luck writing!

Work Update 2

            I am very busy now! Perhaps that exclamation will make my point. My apologies for my recent absence, but the fact is I have had little free time since beginning my new occupation at work. I will indulge your curiosity for a moment and share a brief segment of my life before moving onto my work update.

            You might remember that I am employed in the food and beverage field, and was formerly the evening shift supervisor of a Starbucks Coffee Shop on an academic campus in Central Florida. I worked the job until two weeks ago, when the supervisory position in the Catering Department became available. Management was very encouraging, and I decided to take the position. I have been retail since I began working at the campus; now, I am in a totally new field, with new hours (a positive change), and a lot of responsibility. In fact, to make my point, tomorrow I will be preparing a breakfast for the university president and some guests. It is an exciting move, and I stand to gain a lot from it. It has been a good week in the new field so far and I am enjoying it immensely. There are items and people in the coffee shop I miss, but the transition has, overall, been a very positive one for me. I am now home most evenings with my wife (as opposed to working 6 pm-3 am every night) and I have a wonderful manager and crew with which to work.

            Now, I have said the above to point out that my new position leaves me little time to engage in blog writing. My wife is my first priority in the evening, so I write and research when time allows. I have been a week in the job, so hopefully I will begin to learn to use the new schedule to my advantage, as I still desire to keep my writing career going. That being said, onto the update.

            I spent most of today working on the novella, and am pleased to say I have finally gotten through the first draft! It was a bit of a pain, as the first read-through was extensive, but it came out well. Only two more edits and it is finished. I am pleased so far with the story and its outline, pace and style; only a few more critiques and it will be near perfect.

            You are reading my blog, so it means I was successful in creating it today. On my list are this blog and my short story, The Unbinding Tie, which I am currently editing. It is my hope to have this posted and the story completed soon. There do no seem to be many corrections as of yet (that frightens me!), but it is coming along nicely.

            As far as ideas go, I have one project I will begin shortly. This one is a short story about a hiker who ventures off trail into the old, abandoned house of the supposed town witch. Once inside, he finds and reads from a book she wrote about her own life and experiences with the judgmental townspeople. It has been rattling around in my cranium for a long while now, and demands attention. I hope to begin work on it in the next few days, time permitting. I am excited about the story’s prospects, as I feel it is going to be a good one for me. It will be nice to get it underway.

            Well, that is all for now. Wish me luck with my new endeavors, and as always, good luck writing!

On Writing a Short Story

            In a conversation with a co-worker the other day, she told me she was going to submit a short work of fiction for a writing scholarship competition. Having only worked on a novel, she was unfamiliar with short story writing. I realized then not all writers are familiar with writing shorter works. In this blog I will give some pointers on how to write a good work of shorter length.

            The short story has been around for centuries. Some writers utilized the medium extensively, like Poe, Hawthorne and London, and some had their stories broken down into smaller bits for publication in newspapers, like the French writer Dumas. Short works are best described as works long enough to give ample definition to emotions and settings, as well as plot, but short enough to read in a single sitting. I personally love the style and approach of a short story; it gives me room to move artistically, but also keeps me focused on the story, as I do not have too much space for frivolous material. A short story keeps you to the point.

            There are a few basic tips to follow when constructing a shorter work, tips I shall detail below. First, and I believe most importantly, write in the here and now. You all know my flare for existential writing; write in the now. Of all my stories, only a few actually progress through time. The remainder of my tales all take place in the moment. Writing in such a manner allows for further emphasis on the emotions of the moment, and the moment itself. It presents a powerful piece in which the feelings and atmosphere become the actual characters, [see my blog on existential writing]. Try the style. Some writers may prefer to have a general progression of time, while others may find they like the approach. I feel I would be utterly lost without this method.

            Second, keep your characters few in number. A short story cannot have dozens of characters, each with their own plots and subplots. If such is your story, please write a novel. My stories have one, perhaps two characters at best. The Man in the Window had only the main character with the two boys appearing only as part of the backdrop. In many of my tales, there is but one character, and only one. This also helps to tie into the theme of existentialism; too many people in the story illustrate too many themes and too much emphasis on time.

            Thirdly, write a simple plot. You need not re-create the Count of Monte Cristo or A Tale of Two Cities in short fiction form. It is a short work: let the plot be short and simple. In Perpetually Seven the main character is driven mad by the loss of time; the same is true of The Noise from Above, where the character thinks he hears someone moving around in the second story of his home. Take a single incident and construct it on paper, letting the scene speak for itself. Don’t worry about background information. It is sometimes unique and neat to be dropped into the middle of a situation. The scene will reveal itself over the course of the story, so don’t worry about that.

            Finally, pace yourself. When writing a novel, writers pace themselves for a long haul or run; with short fiction, pace yourself for a sprint. Know and remind yourself constantly that the work will be a short one. Not all problems need to be handled and corrected in the lives of your characters in the story. Let some issues slide by in an effort to run your sprint with ease.

            If you do feel compelled to use time in your story (I did with Unbinding Tie and The Man in the Window), try to keep it simple. I have found that using such phrases as “After a week,” or  simply, “with the passage of days…” helps greatly to create the illusion of passing time, without having to progress through each day and encumbering your story with needless details. It is not my point, however, to erase all descriptions and details from the work. That is certainly not my intent. If you have read any of my tales, you will find very descriptive paragraphs. You need only to eradicate what is not necessary.

            So, there you are. Now, sit before your computer and belt out one of those stories. Not that easy? Well, you are correct. As always, let the story speak to you. Short or not, the story has a tale to tell, and it will let you know when it is ready. Be alert and ready when it calls, and use these tips to craft an excellent work.

            As always, good luck writing!