Caring for and feeding your data
Folders and versions
Do all your work in a folder called working version. When you cut a version, create a new folder and give the folder a meaningful name. Copy all relevant files from the working version folder into the new folder. The new folder is now a frozen copy of the working version folder.
Continue working in the folder called working version.
Even if you use scriptwriting software that allows you to save a frozen copy of a script, save all frozen copies to their own folders. This way, you can save other relevant material with the frozen script.
Back-up protects against loss
You have just typed "END OF PLAY" on the 35th re-write and you just know that this is Pulitzer. What do you do next?
- Send it to your agent
- Send it to the company in NY that has been screaming for it
- Back up all the script files.
It's your play, you pick.
Done properly, electronic back-up is as good as placing your script in a fire proof safe in Fort Knox. You place an exact replica of all the relevant files on another disk, tape, writable CD-ROM or any other media that will hold the files indefinitely. Then, if you have a catastrophic hard disk curruption and loose everything, you get a new disk and reload all your back-ups. All you have lost is the work you did since the last back-up. This means you should back up often to reduce the loss window.
It's not rocket science but for some reason very few writers seem to do it (and not just fiction writers). Just make the backup copies and keep them in a safe place along with paper copies.