More than you ever wanted to hear from Bestselling Author Jenny Crusie.
Jan242009
I wrote until 5AM this morning, got a huge amount of work done on Act Three, SO proud of myself.
Then Bob sent me a file and I wrote it over my file. Lost everything.
The key here is to get past it, sit down, and write it again.
And I will as soon as I stop screaming.
Sorry. Just had to vent for the moment. Back later next week with a real post.
UNLESS I OVERWRITE THAT, TOO.
Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of twenty-one novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives on the Ohio River where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.
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42 Comments to 'Poor Baby'
On January 24, 2009 at 10:48 pm JulieB said...
Ug! I don’t even know what to say. Sorry to hear that — sending hug.
On January 24, 2009 at 11:26 pm Robin L said...
Oh Noes!! Just hearing that makes my physically ill. Do you have Time Machine by any chance? That back’s up every hour, so if you had it, you might be able to recover the overwritten file from a previous backed up version.
On January 24, 2009 at 11:31 pm robena grant said...
So, that’s what the noise was? I thought the demons were running amuck in the theme park. Just kidding. That must have been horrible. Big hugs.
A few years ago I lost a manuscript. A computer whiz neighbor came in and he searched everywhere but we couldn’t retrieve the darn thing. Fortunately there was a rough draft copy but still, had to retype the revised version. It’s enough to make you pop a cork.
Go get some sleep, tomorrow’s a new day and you’ll be fresh and will write it all again. And who knows? Maybe it will be even better.
On January 25, 2009 at 12:05 am Mel said...
EEEEEEK!!! That deserves chocolate of some sort. And possibly alcohol! Poor baby indeed!
On January 25, 2009 at 12:07 am toni said...
Wow, my head would’ve exploded. I am impressed you’re not rending and killing things. And thank you for posting this–I’m in the middle of line edits and I usually back up or email a version to myself at the end of the day (I’ve set up a separate gmail account for that)… and I had not done either for a while. I am now officially protected.
On January 25, 2009 at 1:10 am Sheri said...
Ever since I lost an entire version of a story I had been working on to a corrupted floppy disc I now back everything up on my flash drive AND I email it to my gf who backs it up on HER computer also. Can’t be too careful… Oh, this isn’t helping?! Sorry…
That totally sucks, because even if you can remember what you wrote it will never be quite the same. But then again, look on the bright side–it will probably be even better because you cut out all that annoying editing and stuff you usually have to do with a rough draft! *grin*
On January 25, 2009 at 3:40 am Yvonne Lindsay said...
Oh. My. God.
Good luck on the stop screaming part and comisseratory hugs on the loss.
On January 25, 2009 at 3:43 am Courtney De said...
Oh, my god. Poor baby. I’ve done that. Worst. Feeling. Ever. When the screaming stops-or possibly while it’s still going on, hard to say-I recommend a nice, stiff drink. But only one, or, in your case, maybe half a one (seem to remember you can’t handle your liquor). Poor baby.
Now, advice so that this doesn’t happen again: your Mac has a built-in cd burner. You can use it to back-up your files very easily. If you don’t know how to do that, when the screaming and self-recriminations stop, I’ll be more than happy to tell you. Poor baby.
On January 25, 2009 at 3:54 am Micki said...
*hugs* and *poor baby*
And here’s hoping that the new draft will actually be better and improved over the one you lost!
(I’m taking note of the suggestions people are giving you; I might actually start writing again this week.)
On January 25, 2009 at 10:38 am Elisabeth Crisp said...
After the fact, this isn’t very helpful, but at the end of each day, I send myself an email and attach the manuscript to the email. I leave it in my inbox. It’s saved me a number of times.
Sorry for your pain.
On January 25, 2009 at 11:08 am Karin Renaud said...
You have a Mac! Why don’t you have Time Machine? It saves everything and you could have gotten it back easily! It saved my butt more than once! I’m so sorry about losing all you work.
On January 25, 2009 at 12:27 pm Diane (TT) said...
How awful – you poor baby! Good luck retrieving the inspiration.
On January 25, 2009 at 1:30 pm Lisa Alber said...
No platitudes and helpful hints from me. Only this: I felt a shriveling-stomach, cringing feeling when I read this post. That SUCKS. It BLOWS. And I’d be screaming too. After the screaming, I’d probably go to bed until tomorrow–except for a run to the grocery store for junk food, of course!
On January 25, 2009 at 1:45 pm JamieH said...
Seconding Robin L on using Time Machine- it may not be the last version you had, but it’s better than screaming yourself hoarse in frustration.
On January 25, 2009 at 2:30 pm stephanie said...
poor baby indeed. not much else to add now – except once you’re done gather the dogs and open the wine and the chocolate. after a nap. poor baby.
On January 25, 2009 at 4:19 pm Louis said...
Ouch! Indeed!
I’ll lend you my shoulder if needed.
On January 25, 2009 at 5:05 pm lady t said...
Oh Jenny…so sorry to hear this! Poor baby. Sending hope and smooth, flowing re-write vibes your way.
On January 25, 2009 at 5:20 pm Jade said...
Horrible feeling!! I’ve done that, too. Here you’ve worked and taken the time to get it just right, put all that energy and creativity into it and it’s great… and then suddenly, poof! — it’s gone. I know I felt it was just unbelievable. That somehow there had to be a way that I could get it back. Somehow. And there wasn’t. And that was almost as frustrating as having it disappear…in the first place!
Hope it’s even more fabulous after the second writing!!
On January 25, 2009 at 5:34 pm OH said...
Oh, poor baby. ((HUGS))
On January 25, 2009 at 6:59 pm S said...
Sending sympathy! This link mught cheer you up (read it while eating chocolate) – it’s an article about writers who lost entire manuscripts.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/23/1000-novels-lost-manuscripts
On January 25, 2009 at 8:09 pm Ericka said...
oh no! i’m sorry! that sucks. is there any hope or is it really gone, gone, gone?
On January 25, 2009 at 8:20 pm McB said...
Oh, poor baby indeed! I was once working in the TOC for a long document and at some point lost the document it was supposed to be attached to. Dots swam in my vision and I got cold all over. Ended up redoing revisions on an older version. So I know how you feel. The down side of the electronic age.
Years ago I had a “go back” program that could retrieve earlier versions. It got lost somewhere in a string of upgrades. So useful!
On January 25, 2009 at 8:23 pm Mary Stella said...
Well, that explains the screaming heard all of the way to Florida.
Poor, poor baby!
On January 25, 2009 at 9:11 pm MJ said...
Oh, noes, indeed. Poor baby!
On January 25, 2009 at 11:53 pm Chelle said...
Oh Sweetie!!! Poor Poor Poor Baby!!
{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}
Oh, that’s awful.
Big hugs. Really really BIG HUGS.
On January 26, 2009 at 8:59 am Carla said...
Reminds me of a joke I heard about how the Devil and Jesus challenged each other to write the best short story possible in 5 minutes. Each taps away at his keyboard until finally the buzzer sounds and each computer shuts off automatically. The winner? Jesus, of course. Why?
Jesus saves.
On January 26, 2009 at 10:34 am Brenda Bobo Bradshaw said...
Oh groan @ “Jesus saves”! I didn’t want to laugh but I had to…
Big time Poor Babies and Dove bars, Jenny. I literally gasped outloud reading that.
On January 26, 2009 at 11:16 am Karen said...
Are you sure you don’t have Time Machine running on your Mac? Worth checking, and definitely worth setting up for the future!
On January 26, 2009 at 11:19 am Theresa said...
Aaagh, no! I hate that it just sucks when it happens. Poor baby!
On January 26, 2009 at 11:30 am Jenny said...
I have Time Machine.
I just never set it up.
Yes, I know. I deserve this.
I even have a Time Capsule. I just never set it . . .
Sigh.
On January 26, 2009 at 12:05 pm Marcia in OK said...
I know it won’t really help much, but I screamed for you too! It is echoing.
Good luck. Have some M&Ms.
On January 26, 2009 at 12:27 pm Sara C said...
Poor baby. Poor poor baby.
On January 26, 2009 at 2:47 pm Yvonne Lindsay said...
So, are you going to set ‘em up now, Jenny? At least one of them?
On January 26, 2009 at 3:34 pm JulieB said...
It must have been in the cosmos. My daughter lost her ENTIRE science fair project paper after finishing it Saturday night. She was able to re-do and complete it on Sunday, but it took away all the “I did it, and now I have free time” euphoria.
And, it was not small project. It involved studying (SP????) 18 cats.
On January 26, 2009 at 5:34 pm Amy said...
Oh, poor, poor, POOR baby.
Poor Baby.
On January 26, 2009 at 9:08 pm RandomRanter said...
Oh, poor baby, indeed.
On January 26, 2009 at 10:23 pm Melissa Blue said...
My computer crashed recently. I saved everything, but one story. The one story that, of course, had bestseller written all over it. I had given up hope and then I discovered through an associate who poor babied me, Recover Files, 2.0. It found a version I saved on a USB I had wiped. This program can work miracles. It may take saving and opening every doc with the name you saved the file under, but trust me it’s worth a try.
Oh, yeah. Poor baby. I KNOW THE FEELING.
Also, it’s really not a bestseller. It just became one when I could no longer see it.
On January 27, 2009 at 1:44 am DownUnderGal said...
Ugh. The mere thought….
On January 27, 2009 at 5:30 am Reb said...
Ouuuuuch. Major poor baby!
I couldn’t hear you scream from New Zealand, but there’s lots of sympathy heading your way from here.
On January 27, 2009 at 4:08 pm Cherry Honey said...
Oh, you definitely need a Poor Baby! Poor baby!
On January 27, 2009 at 7:22 pm Slave Driver said...
I hate when that happens.
I have a special place on the wall for such occasions. You can clearly tell where it is by the greasy makeup indentation. It’s where I bang my head.
It does nothing to recover my files, but the pain takes my mind off of the anguish. For a little while at least. Of course there’s always wine for comfort. That’s why God made those 5 liter boxes.
On February 10, 2009 at 5:55 pm Kirby said...
Been there, done that. With 170 pages of a YA novel that I already had an agent shopping around. Yeah. I think it took almost an entire litre of vodka to work that one out.