I made my poor critique partners work harder than usual on my last manuscript. I had a lot more red ink to swim through when I got my pages back, which means they had a lot more mistakes to deal with. Red ink doesn’t depress me anymore. It means my friends have found ways to make my manuscript better. And the pacing and storyline worked really well, so overall, I’m happy with how this book turned out.
Somewhere near the end of all the changes I was making, I spent an entire day in my office chair, plowing through lots and lots of fixes. At the close of the day, I only had 14 more pages to go, but my brain took a hike, so I thought I’d finish things up the next morning. Except–when I went to look at the last chapter I’d worked on–none of the changes were there. I scrolled back. Not one change showed up for the entire day.
I panicked. Okay, truth time. I cussed and fussed, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t find the changes. All that work–gone! Finally, I did the smart thing and walked away from my computer to make a late supper. I visited with my hub, watched the evening news and Wheel of Fortune, then came back to my computer.
This time, I typed The Bodies in the Wetland in my search program, and lo and behold, there was a new version stored under Windows C. How it got to Windows C, I don’t know. I’ve never done that before. But when I pulled it up, there was all my work. I don’t think I did anything different when I saved each section I finished for that day, but I do know I was sailing through “Save As” on auto pilot. No more. From now on, I’ll look to see WHERE I’m saving my work.
Anyway, I got lucky. I didn’t have to redo what I’d already done. And it was a wake-up call. The good news? I finished the last of the rewrites today! I already have ideas for Book 3 and even a slim idea for Book 4. Time to take a breather tonight and celebrate. Hope all of your writing’s going well!
Webpage: https://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/
Author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JudiLynnwrites/
Twitter: @judypost
Judi Lynn 
I love the relief and satisfaction that comes at the big finish. For some reason, I get attacked with the urge to clean house after a book is completed. Perhaps because I’ve let everything slide, and when no longer focused on something else, I see the dust on the furniture, the crumbs in the corner.
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🙂 I have to clean house before the Oscar Party next weekend. And yes, dusting and scrubbing have been put off. . . again:)
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Whew! I’m so glad you found your file. Just thinking about all that work gone had my stomach turning. I had Word lock up on me today and lost half of a scene as a result. I did a lot of grumbling–the rewrite is never as good as the original–but at least it was only half of a scene. Any more than that and I think I’d sob.
Congrats on finishing your rewrites. Euphoria! 😀
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Oh, the agony and despair of having a delicious gush of words eaten up by a tech-devil.
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I’ve got to remember “tech-devil” I like that! 🙂
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Word locked up on you? I hate losing scenes, because they never feel as good the second time you write them. Sending lots of sympathy! Maybe Word is being temperamental lately.
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They are never as good the second time around. I was sooo ticked at Word yesterday. I think it had to do with windows updates or something. Made me want to dig out my Macbook and work on that instead!
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Mary Lou (historyfanforever) uses a Mac because she got tired of fighting with her computer. Updates mess me up. I think that’s why my files went somewhere they’ve never gone before. It’s frustrating sometimes.
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