Deleted -.-

[NeverEndMe]

For the past few weeks, I've been trying to write my first story for Lit. Out of the blue, this inspiration comes into my head and I wrote down every detail that came to mind on Notepad. This finally broke my writers block. I was so excited! I wrote ideas for my chars and the plot; it really motivated me to finally write a story. So I open it up to read over, and a pop-up appears saying, "File is corrupted or invalid." It won't open.

Has this happened to anyone else? And if so, how did you get your motivation back to write it again?

[sun_sea_sky]

Notepad? That should open almost anything. Is there a backup?

If not, say to yourself "that was the first draft, this time it will be *really* good." Then write it again.

[TinyBeth]

Yikes. And I was annoyed when I went into my story and realized I hadn't saved the last set of changes I had made. Now the block is down I am sure it will come back to you or something else even better.

[Bramblethorn]

Originally Posted by NeverEndMe

For the past few weeks, I've been trying to write my first story for Lit. Out of the blue, this inspiration comes into my head and I wrote down every detail that came to mind on Notepad. This finally broke my writers block. I was so excited! I wrote ideas for my chars and the plot; it really motivated me to finally write a story. So I open it up to read over, and a pop-up appears saying, "File is corrupted or invalid." It won't open.

Has this happened to anyone else? And if so, how did you get your motivation back to write it again?

Before writing off the file, you might try installing something like UltraEdit (there's a free download) and see if that lets you recover content.

[NeverEndMe]

I'll just relax and rewrite. I've come up with some better ideas already. Sadly, it wouldn't let me recover. Thanks for the encouragement guys!

[mynameisben]

Originally Posted by NeverEndMe

I'll just relax and rewrite. I've come up with some better ideas already. Sadly, it wouldn't let me recover. Thanks for the encouragement guys!

This has always been my experience, too. Dredging up good ideas from memory forces me to think harder and invariably makes them better.

A good idea is always worth rescuing.

A good idea is also worth backing up on different media.

[NeverEndMe]

I know now to put a back-up file on my computer. I used to write them down in a note book or something, but someone always ended up finding it (I grew up with little or not privacy; i still have that problem). After I got over being pissed about the deleted file, I took a deep breath and starting writing it again.

Deleted stories: an author's true test of determination. lol

[topace]

I lost a chapter of one of my completed stories to a corrupt file, thankfully a fellow member had copied it off the site it was posted to before I had removed it, so I got it back.

I use OpenOffice for all my writing needs, and Notepad++ (Windows)/gedit(Linux) for all my programming needs. Nothing beats free!

[damppanties]

Originally Posted by mynameisben

A good idea is also worth backing up on different media.

Yes, dammit. Lost half a dozen WIPs to a computer crash. And they were good, even if I say so myself.

Originally Posted by NeverEndMe

Deleted stories: an author's true test of determination. lol

Truth. And guess I don't care enough to rewrite mine then.

[dawei]

NeverEndMe,

Sorry to hear about your lost work. You might consider doing a disk scan just in case that's related to the problem. Also, I'll offer this suggest, I've been using Google docs for storing my writings. It's stored on-line and automatically saved. For me, it works really well.

Good luck, re-creating your story.

[NeverEndMe]

Originally Posted by dawei

NeverEndMe,

Sorry to hear about your lost work. You might consider doing a disk scan just in case that's related to the problem. Also, I'll offer this suggest, I've been using Google docs for storing my writings. It's stored on-line and automatically saved. For me, it works really well.

Good luck, re-creating your story.

Thanks >.< What's sad is, this isn't the first time it's happened. I used to have some stories on a flashdrive, but it accidentally got in the washer (totally my fault). I was thinking of sending a copy of my stories to my e-mail or something. That way, if something happens to my computer, I'll access it through the web. I'll take your advice on Google docs thanks for the advice.

xD I think this has happened to every author at least once.