When my Gateway laptop crapped out on me, it was a pain in the ass in the sense that I lost a lot of time dealing with it instead of working.
But in terms of data, it wasn't that huge of a loss, since almost everything that was on it had been emailed at one point in time or another, either between other people, or to myself.
The only truly significant loss was the work I did on the third draft of my script EXTRADITION while visiting my family over Thanksgiving. A week's worth of writing... gone.
I've been rebuilding that work since then, a little at a time.
On the one hand it's easier. Over Thanksgiving, I wrote a ton of pages I ended up throwing out, chasing ideas down rabbit holes, only to discard what came out the other end. No big deal... that's how I write, anyway. So it wasn't wasted time, in the sense that now I'm rebuilding writing that was based on choices made after many other choices were explored and discarded.
On the other hand... the work isn't kept fresh by creative exploration, which is always fun for me. There's a pervading sense of, "Fuck, I DID this already!" Instead of enjoyable, it's frustrating, a constant reminder of what a piece of shit my old laptop was, and the trouble it caused me. It is exactly like getting three quarters the way through building a house, only to have a hurricane come along and blow everything down.
I hate having to fight my way back up to zero, but that's a frequent situation in my life.
I made it up to page 75 before the laptop died. I've rebuilt everything up to page 55. So, in 20 pages, I'll be back in virgin territory. Those last pages will be purely new... I have to come up with a completely different third act climax. It'll be harder work, but more fun.
After I hand that in, I'll be back on DESERT RUN. Not only do I rewrite that project every time I go back to it; each go-around is another reinvention. Again: harder work, but more fun.
And after that's turned around, I'm gonna crack out this horror idea that's rattling around in me. I'll keep the writing of that first draft to within 10-14 days, so it doesn't get in the way of the more commercial stuff.
But in terms of data, it wasn't that huge of a loss, since almost everything that was on it had been emailed at one point in time or another, either between other people, or to myself.
The only truly significant loss was the work I did on the third draft of my script EXTRADITION while visiting my family over Thanksgiving. A week's worth of writing... gone.
I've been rebuilding that work since then, a little at a time.
On the one hand it's easier. Over Thanksgiving, I wrote a ton of pages I ended up throwing out, chasing ideas down rabbit holes, only to discard what came out the other end. No big deal... that's how I write, anyway. So it wasn't wasted time, in the sense that now I'm rebuilding writing that was based on choices made after many other choices were explored and discarded.
On the other hand... the work isn't kept fresh by creative exploration, which is always fun for me. There's a pervading sense of, "Fuck, I DID this already!" Instead of enjoyable, it's frustrating, a constant reminder of what a piece of shit my old laptop was, and the trouble it caused me. It is exactly like getting three quarters the way through building a house, only to have a hurricane come along and blow everything down.
I hate having to fight my way back up to zero, but that's a frequent situation in my life.
I made it up to page 75 before the laptop died. I've rebuilt everything up to page 55. So, in 20 pages, I'll be back in virgin territory. Those last pages will be purely new... I have to come up with a completely different third act climax. It'll be harder work, but more fun.
After I hand that in, I'll be back on DESERT RUN. Not only do I rewrite that project every time I go back to it; each go-around is another reinvention. Again: harder work, but more fun.
And after that's turned around, I'm gonna crack out this horror idea that's rattling around in me. I'll keep the writing of that first draft to within 10-14 days, so it doesn't get in the way of the more commercial stuff.
1 comment:
I rewrite so much, I feel like my laptop is perpetually dying. ;-)
Still, on the rare occasions I actually finish stuff I tend to be more or less happy with it.
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