John Hewitt’s Writing Tips: Save What You Write
November 22, 2005 by J.C. Hewitt
You never know when the words you write today, even the ones you don’t like, will come in handy later. The paper you wrote for a class in 1998 might suddenly be of use to you in 2009. The chapter you decided didn’t work in your novel might be just the thing you need three drafts later. The poem you hate might have one line that you’ll want to use in another poem. The journal you wrote about your trip to Mexico could give you background material for a travel article five years from now. Whatever the case, your old writing can suddenly lead to new writing under the right circumstances.
Keeping old copies of your writing isn’t always easy. I spent the late eighties and early nineties writing on Macintosh computers, only to switch to a Windows system in the mid-nineties. I made backup disks of all the Mac materials, but lost most of them as I moved from place to place over the years. I rarely need the old stuff, but every once in a while I really wish I had a particular piece.
Your writing is a history of yourself. Some parts may not be as interesting as others, but it isn’t always easy to tell which parts will matter later. Keeping print copies is great, but if you are even moderately prolific, the filing cabinets start to add up. I keep very little on paper anymore. I wish I could, but I simply don’t have the space. I do keep a set of CD-ROMs with my old work. I haven’t managed to save it all, and I’ve frequently gone looking for something I didn’t think to keep, but having those files has helped me on more than one project. Sometimes I look through my old material just to see how I’m progressing and to remember what I used to write about. Frequently, I don’t remember a piece at all and reading it is like looking at a person I forgot exists.
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Warning! Comments that do not meet the guidelines will be deleted.