›
Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

When you lose a story you're sure was good

JenJen
edited August 2016 in Writing
I think it was good but now I can't find it and my brain doesn't want to work to recreate it. Very annoying.
I started being organised and putting everything into a file to avoid this type of thing in future.

Comments

  • LizLiz
    A file? ONE file?

    I have a folder for every project, named. And as I do poems, that is a lot of folders - although sometimes it's lots of poems for one book, or for one letter asking for poems.

    Plus I can search - can your computer do a search? I put in a phrase I know was in it or a name, or try a few names it could have been.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Unless you've deleted it and emptied your bin, it must still be there... somewhere.
  • boredrobotsboredrobots
    Hell, even if you've emptied the Recycle Bin it's still possible to retrieve it!
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    I nearly added that you'd know how!
  • CarolCarol
    Hell, even if you've emptied the Recycle Bin it's still possible to retrieve it!
    How?

  • boredrobotsboredrobots
    Download any half decent file recovery utility...there are hundreds! :)

    When data is deleted it's usually still there - deleting it just tells the computer to act like it isn't there. Sort of like having a video tape of Casualty...when you're ready to get rid of that recording you wouldn't delete the data, you'd scribble out 'Casualty' from the label and know you could record over it next time you wanted to create data.
  • CarolCarol
    Br would it be able to recover files that got deleted off a memory stick? a couple of days ago? Well they were there, then the next time I opened the stick they were gone...

    I discovered that when you delete something off a memory stick in Windows 10 it just disappears, and doesn't go in the recycle bin... :(

  • boredrobotsboredrobots
    Could be yeah, worth a shot :)
  • CarolCarol
    Any recommendations for an idiot proof file recovery utility that doesn't require intense computer knowledge? :)
  • LizyLizy
    Good luck - it's soooo frustrating losing work.
  • boredrobotsboredrobots
    edited August 2016
    Try this - EaseUS Data Recovery
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Mum lost a memory stick a few weeks ago. She found it stuck to the underside of her iron. Any tips, BR?
  • boredrobotsboredrobots
    errrrmmm...as long as it's only the plastic that has melted it could be fine. The actual shiny bit inside is teeny and may have survived.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    It didn't. I replaced it. Thankfully she was able to download the designs again from her library.
  • heatherheather
    Of course, Jen's story might have been handwritten.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    Try this - EaseUS Data Recovery
    Would that work to recover photos from a CD?
  • CarolCarol
    It's relatively easy to use, sadly even the deep scan couldn't find the missing documents.
  • danfangodanfango
    I used a free download to retrieve some photos I accidentally deleted from an SD card. I'm not using the same computer at the moment but I'm pretty sure it was called Pandora Recovery or something very similar to that. It managed to salvage about half the missing photos.
  • JenJen
    My memory is terrible.......... After yet another hunt through my many notebooks -I write by hand- I found what I thought was the story, it was just a few lines, just a beginning. I just couldn't remember what I wrote. Could've sworn it was a longer piece, oh well at least I had a tidy.
    I have a few folders with started and unfinished novels and stories. Sadly very few stories that are actually finished (I don't want to even admit to the number) I'm determined to finish and polish them I always get stuck in the rewriting stage, I did a short story course and I've read a lot of books but they never give you much about rewriting and I need to stick at it and finish
  • PaigeElizabethTurnerPaigeElizabethTurner
    Jen,

    Don't know if this might help, but take one of your (many) unfinished stories, sit down and pad the hell out of it: good stuff, drivel and crap. Quite often a few gems will spill out and ignite the spark.

    I sometimes have what I call a five-fifteen-fury (and no, it's nothing to do with sex); I set my clock for 5.15 am (but could be any time) and write maybe 1,000 words straight off the top of my head. Could be about a block of chocolate, could be about a silver robot standing bored in the foyer of Writing Magazine; the point is we splurge out rapid-fire all we can. If we use only 10%, we are miles ahead.

    It's a bit like the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe. Out of the dozen or so kids, eleven might be real terrors, but one would always stand head and shoulders above the rest.
    (sorry, I'm not good at those analogy things) ;)
  • JenJen
    Jen,

    Don't know if this might help, but take one of your (many) unfinished stories, sit down and pad the hell out of it: good stuff, drivel and crap. Quite often a few gems will spill out and ignite the spark.

    I sometimes have what I call a five-fifteen-fury (and no, it's nothing to do with sex); I set my clock for 5.15 am (but could be any time) and write maybe 1,000 words straight off the top of my head. Could be about a block of chocolate, could be about a silver robot standing bored in the foyer of Writing Magazine; the point is we splurge out rapid-fire all we can. If we use only 10%, we are miles ahead.

    It's a bit like the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe. Out of the dozen or so kids, eleven might be real terrors, but one would always stand head and shoulders above the rest.
    (sorry, I'm not good at those analogy things) ;)

    That's some good advice. I do find little gems of ideas sometimes (I have read through the old stuff but not recently) but I'm not very good at rewriting, I think I've spent more time writing over the years than rewriting, hence why I have no finished stories to send out. Confidence, business, procrastination call it what you will I'm working on some of those stories now. One story has been worked to death though it has lost the spark I had in the 1st draft.
    I trying to work on a few stories at the moment and finish them before I write anything new. Which is a pain as I want to write new stuff but I guess that's the reward at the end of all the hard work. Just looked at one story now, rewriting mostly and I'll keep plugging on rewriting, reworking until I get these stories done.
  • PaigeElizabethTurnerPaigeElizabethTurner
    I think, as creative people, (except the robot) we develop some strange thought processes. I've often wondered about creating an 'exchange bin' where a small writing community tosses in their 'problem drafts' and exchanges them for someone else's. Whether they're returned after the new owner has re-worked them, I do not know, but there could be some VERY interesting outcomes.

    In saying that, I wonder what other TBers might think? Might we see a link to our special 'Exchange Bin'?
  • JenJen
    That's an interesting idea, but won't it no longer be your story
  • PaigeElizabethTurnerPaigeElizabethTurner
    That, Jen, is the conundrum I touched on whether they're returned or not after the 'bin'. True, there would be arguments, especially if one of the 'projects' won a comp, or major publishing deal.
  • CarolCarol
    Competitions say it must be your own work, so such a situation would exclude such entries.
  • boredrobotsboredrobots
    ...a silver robot standing bored...
    Hmm, something about the idea of a bored robot resonates with me...I don't know why :P
  • PaigeElizabethTurnerPaigeElizabethTurner
    Good pickup. I bin' hangin' it on your tag. Can't help myself!!
Sign In or Register to comment.