What would happen to your story in a fire?

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell

Or a flood, or should someone steal your computer?

I don’t know about you but, I’d have a freaking heart attack!laptop-fire

We’ve all know to back up our work. I do this religiously to an external hard drive. A hard drive that is in my closet, that would burn up with my laptop and house in a fire.

Geesh! Give me a minute while I bang my head on table.

September 15, 2016, the Associated Press reported about a fire. Nothing unusual about fires, they happen every day. Unless you are the victim. As was the case for Gideon Hodge a  novelist that realized his only copies  were on a laptop inside.

Mr. Hodge rushed past firefighters into the blazing inferno to save his computer.

superman-meme

Man dashes into house to save laptop, 2 completed novels from fire in New Orleans’ Broadmoor neighborhood BY MATT SLEDGE

So all of this got me to thinking. I better find a better way to back up my work. I have a lot of finished and unfinished stories on my computer.

But which is the best storage service to use?

I’ve used Google Drive for docs and pics I wanted to share but not for storage. I may give this another look as it is super easy to use. Google Drive is encrypted using SSL, the same security protocol used on Gmail and other Google services. 15 GB of storage won’t last forever but I can buy more as needed.

I’ve also used Dropbox in the past. It too is very easy to use and crosses many platforms. Dropping between my MS laptop to my Ipad with no trouble at all. The free version is only 2GBs but here again, I can buy more if I need it. Dropbox also allows you to encrypt each file for security.

I’ve tried Evernote for small things. I don’t know how it would work for larger items such as a manuscript.

For now, I’m leaning toward Google Drive.

But there are a lot more out there, including tips for Mac users. Check out this post:

Ask the Writers: Which Cloud Storage Service Do You Use by  Laura Tucker

What about you?

Do you have a safety net for your writing? 

Don’t let all of your blood sweat and tears be lost forever.

Which one do you use?

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell,Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

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36 thoughts on “What would happen to your story in a fire?”

  1. I love Dropbox. Also, if you get people to sign up for it using your sign up link, they add extra space to your account. Evernote is great for bookmarked articles I like to go back and refer to. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. I use OneDrive and DropBox. OneDrive will let me store 5 GBs. I have several stories I’ve started in that cloud along with my blog posts and whatnot. For my current WiP I’m using DropBox. I separated it from the others for psychological reasons. It makes it feel more important so getting my butt in the chair is a little easier. When I feel my motivation slipping down too far, I’m work on one of the other ones, but having the DropBox icon on my desktop reminds me of my most important work [at least until it’s done].

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I use OneDrive as I write, w/ my stuff backed up to OneDrive automatically using a program called GoodSync, which lets me back up as files change, or by how much time has passed. And I back up (less often) to an external drive, And I back up to a USB flash drive. Whew!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I like GoodSync cuz it’s pretty easy to set up, and reliable. I can set different rules for different things, so the important stuff like WIPs get backed up every 10 minutes, and other stuff, like queries or beta read stuff is only backed up when GoodSync starts or every hour or whatever.

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  10. I email the novel I’m working on to myself every time I’m done writing or revising, even if I’m just taking a short break. I’ve been thinking about using Google Docs so that I can work on my manuscript from anywhere and on any device, but even if I decide to do that, I’ll still email it to myself.

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  12. I backup to Dropbox as the files are encrypted at rest on their servers (unlike Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive) and there is nothing in the terms and conditions like “may make derivatives of your works” (unlike Google Drive).
    In truth, I also periodically sync a copy to OneDrive as I am very familiar with Microsoft’s security measures (I’m involved with their hosting services for my day job as a customer) and consider it low risk to do so.
    I also zip my work up into a zip file and copy it to a USB key attached to my house keys key ring every once in while.
    The reason I do this is because automatic synchronization services (Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive) will also synchronize the mistakes I make – like deleting a file.
    Another safe guard I use is to write a book using a separate word file for every chapter. That way I won’t accidentally delete lots of text in a single at once that will then get synchronized to my backups automatically.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Whew! Sounds like you have this down to a science. I do need to check into some sort of auto sync program. More research. Sigh. Thanks Adrian for sharing! I’m gonna look at OneDrive too.

      Like

  13. Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
    Regular backups are a necessity and make sure at least one form is off-site (meaning cloud service of some sort) so you can get to it. Much of my data is saved automatically to the cloud and then I do a local back-up to my external hard drive.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Saw this important post on Chris’ blog . . . Another step I’ve decided to take: the important stuff is backed up to a thumb drive and goes into a safety deposit box at a bank. (CD-Rs I’ve kept in the past, despite cases, tend to get scratched up at some point.) As you’ve all indicated, the most we can do is to back up in as many media and as many physical forms and locations as humanly possible.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. WIPs get backed up all over… emailed to myself as often as not as well as devices and cloud. It is also reassuring to know that anything published as an Indie via Createspace and Kindle is available as a downloadable PDF in your account.

    Liked by 2 people

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