What would you do with all your life's work was deleted?

ScottyMcGee · 10-20-2016, 01:38 PM

Just imagine. Every little thing you wrote - gone in a second.

What would you do? Let it be? Or write it all over again?

I think about it a lot and I think it's an important question to face because it can make you realize how persistent you want to be.

Georgy · 10-20-2016, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by ScottyMcGee

Just imagine. Every little thing you wrote - gone in a second.

What would you do? Let it be? Or write it all over again?

I think about it a lot and I think it's an important question to face because it can make you realize how persistent you want to be.

By no means write it all over again, as far as I'm concerned. It would be too boring and exhausting. Besides, if this shit happened once, we have no guarantee it will never happen again, ergo, there's no point to put our lives at the stake of the vague and volatile luck.
But, MacGee, this situation is impossible,absolutely, unless the whole World is going to burn in Hell. But in this case, I think, we are not going to worry about our writings, right?

MonaLon · 10-21-2016, 04:03 AM

I'd write it again but this time I'd add in all of the concepts that I hadn't fully realized the first time. It could actually be a great opportunity, but it will be draining. I wouldn't be able to think of it completely as just restarting -- more like a reboot of the material instead of a clean copy.

Dabs · 10-21-2016, 07:21 PM

Re-write some of it, probably let most of it die.

GeonamicWarrior · 10-22-2016, 12:27 AM

I'd probably rewrite the ones that I feel are the best among the rest and neglect the rest afterwards.

Lykaios · 10-22-2016, 12:23 PM

Cry. A lot. And then some more.

I'm going to assume this includes everything you've sent to friends/critiquers and any printed work. My current novel, I'd probably not rewrite. Maybe I'd keep the idea and one day make it into a graphic novel or something other than a novel. My other stuff is still mostly unformed/unstructured enough to have another bash at and it not be too traumatising over the things lost.

ScottyMcGee · 02-12-2017, 02:00 AM

I totally forgot I asked this but looking at it now, I realized I should have been clearer.

I was actually thinking about your work in progress. For example, I have so many unfinished stories on my hard drive. I want to publish them of course. But I often wondered about my determination - like what if my hard drives and my cloud were all gone and I had to start from scratch?

Georgy · 02-12-2017, 04:04 AM

Having unleashed your imagination your might as well ask: what if all my unfinished stories vanished into thin air and before long all of them, finished and accomplished, appeared in book stores......but under totally unbeknownst for me name?
So, my advice to you(if you don't mind me advising) would be to take a grip on yourself and finish all your stories and post them somewhere and let your hard drive and your worries have a rest.

vaultoutfielder · 10-24-2017, 04:20 AM

This happened to a friend of mine actually - all her writings were deleted. They were saved in her computer but she wasn't able to back them up. She kind of got depressed because of what happened. Two articles that were deleted were supposed to be her entries to a writing contest.

I have been reading the comments in here and I will agree, rewrite again. However it will be tedious and difficult. And I wish my friend can recover from what happened and be able to write again.

mell · 11-04-2017, 10:37 PM

Cry, of course. I hate all my old writing and I'm only one page in on a project I'm working on now, so nothing would be really lost, but I have an attachment to what I write. I have dozens of notebooks and documents I like to reread from time to time, just for the memories.

Of course I would never re-write it. There's nothing worth re-rewriting. So I suppose I'd just move on after a few days of devastation. What else could be done?

10-20-2016, 01:38 PM	View Post #1 (Link) What would you do if all your life's work was deleted?
ScottyMcGee Freelance Writer Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,754 Points: 30 Times Thanked: 176	Just imagine. Every little thing you wrote - gone in a second. What would you do? Let it be? Or write it all over again? I think about it a lot and I think it's an important question to face because it can make you realize how persistent you want to be. __________________ Only thieves kiss with their eyes open.

10-21-2016, 04:03 AM	View Post #3 (Link)
MonaLon Global Moderator Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: North Carolina, USA Posts: 250 Points: 30 Times Thanked: 34	I'd write it again but this time I'd add in all of the concepts that I hadn't fully realized the first time. It could actually be a great opportunity, but it will be draining. I wouldn't be able to think of it completely as just restarting -- more like a reboot of the material instead of a clean copy. __________________ Hey guys! I do novel/short story critiques. Big project: The Queen of Gosnter Smaller project: Callback *"Stuff happened." --Something someone said at some point*

10-22-2016, 12:27 AM	View Post #5 (Link)
GeonamicWarrior Aspiring Author Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: California, USA Posts: 507 Points: 20 Times Thanked: 16	I'd probably rewrite the ones that I feel are the best among the rest and neglect the rest afterwards. __________________ All previous novels put on hold at the moment. My compilation of all the great guides, Guides' Gate, for those in need of help or review with critiques, grammar, spelling, and other advice. "These hands of mine glow with an awesome power! Their burning grips tell me to write. Take this! My love, my anger, and all of my sorrow! SHINING FINGERS! Go, go! Go, go! Go, go!" -derived from G Gundam's Shining Finger attack quote.

02-12-2017, 02:00 AM	View Post #7 (Link)
ScottyMcGee Freelance Writer Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,754 Points: 30 Times Thanked: 176	I totally forgot I asked this but looking at it now, I realized I should have been clearer. I was actually thinking about your work in progress. For example, I have so many unfinished stories on my hard drive. I want to publish them of course. But I often wondered about my determination - like what if my hard drives and my cloud were all gone and I had to start from scratch? __________________ Only thieves kiss with their eyes open.

02-12-2017, 04:04 AM	View Post #8 (Link)
Georgy Scholarly Apprentice Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Somewhere Posts: 231 Points: 2.68 Times Thanked: 88	Having unleashed your imagination your might as well ask: what if all my unfinished stories vanished into thin air and before long all of them, finished and accomplished, appeared in book stores......but under totally unbeknownst for me name? So, my advice to you(if you don't mind me advising) would be to take a grip on yourself and finish all your stories and post them somewhere and let your hard drive and your worries have a rest. __________________ "And the internet has everything on it. It's a blessing and a curse." InfinityMan "The point of poetic prose, in my opinion, is to illuminate a truth, make us see something that's there, but hidden." Dabs "I believe we stand together to address the real issues facing this country, not allow them to divide us by race or where we come from. Let's create an America that works for all of us, not the handful on top." Senator B.Sanders

10-21-2016, 07:21 PM	View Post #4 (Link)
Dabs Freelance Writer Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Long Island, New York Posts: 1,885 Points: 30 Times Thanked: 151	Re-write some of it, probably let most of it die.

10-22-2016, 12:23 PM	View Post #6 (Link)
Lykaios Red-name-person Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ὡς ἐν ἄλλῳ κόσμῳ Posts: 1,374 Points: 30 Times Thanked: 115	Cry. A lot. And then some more. I'm going to assume this includes everything you've sent to friends/critiquers and any printed work. My current novel, I'd probably not rewrite. Maybe I'd keep the idea and one day make it into a graphic novel or something other than a novel. My other stuff is still mostly unformed/unstructured enough to have another bash at and it not be too traumatising over the things lost.

10-24-2017, 04:20 AM	View Post #9 (Link)
vaultoutfielder Novice Writer Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 16 Points: 5 Times Thanked: 1	This happened to a friend of mine actually - all her writings were deleted. They were saved in her computer but she wasn't able to back them up. She kind of got depressed because of what happened. Two articles that were deleted were supposed to be her entries to a writing contest. I have been reading the comments in here and I will agree, rewrite again. However it will be tedious and difficult. And I wish my friend can recover from what happened and be able to write again.

11-04-2017, 10:37 PM	View Post #10 (Link)
mell Literary Newbie Join Date: Nov 2017 Posts: 9 Points: 25 Times Thanked: 1	Cry, of course. I hate all my old writing and I'm only one page in on a project I'm working on now, so nothing would be really lost, but I have an attachment to what I write. I have dozens of notebooks and documents I like to reread from time to time, just for the memories. Of course I would never re-write it. There's nothing worth re-rewriting. So I suppose I'd just move on after a few days of devastation. What else could be done?