Boy In Doubt

I just read it and I agree, the ending surprised me as well.

lol...thanks for that, it made me giggle. The last one is my favorite.

"Take Me Away" by Avril Lavigne reminds me of my teenage years. Actually I still feel like I'm in high school...lol. I cannot find a way to describe it It's there inside All I do is hide I wish that it would just go away What would you do You do if you knew What would you do All the pain I thought I knew All the thoughts lead back to you Back to what Was never said Back and forth Inside my head I can't handle this confusion I'm unable come and take me away I feel like I am all alone All by myself I need to get around this My words are cold I don't want them to hurt you If I show you I don't think you'd understand 'Cause no one understands All the pain I thought I knew All the thoughts lead back to you Back to what Was never said Back and forth Inside my head I can't handle this confusion I'm unable come and take me away I'm going nowhere on and on and I'm getting nowhere on and on and on I'm going nowhere on and on and off and on and off and on All the pain I thought I knew All the thoughts lead back to you Back to what Was never said Back and forth Inside my head I can't handle this confusion I'm unable come and take me away Take me away Break me away Take me away

Happy Birthday, Prince!

Don't worry, it was actually the glass door that got hurt.

Happy Birthday, Myr!

I'm sorry, that is terrible. I guess that ought to teach us not to rely on just one drive for storage.

I get what you mean. That's one of the benefits of having a beta reader. Someone else gets a copy. Unforutnately, I don't have one at the moment and the only copy of the file I have left is messed up. I guess I'll just have to channel those feelings again and rewrite the scene, which is quite short, so it might turn out alright. Thanks, I'll send it as soon as I'm done typing this message.

I like the way you think, Greg. I wish I could look on the bright side more often. A while after it happened I was like, "What's the point?" and it really killed my writing mood. It felt as though anything I wrote could just disappear on me at the drop of a hat. But you're right, it's not the end of the world and I certainly shouldn't stop just because of some minor setback. Perhaps I could come up with a better version of the same piece. I actually tried writing today (on Google Docs, like Krista suggested) and I'm starting to feel better about it now. That also means goodbye, Wordpad. You won't be missed...lol. Thanks again, everyone. I will definitely try to be more careful next time.

"The hardest thing in this world is to live in it." - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I tried but nothing showed up when I clicked 'Paste'. I should probably just accept that it's gone. At least it wasn't an entire chapter, just a scene (which meant a lot to me but there's nothing I can do about it now).

Thanks, Colin. I'll check out the link but the problem isn't that the file is gone, it's that the text is invisible. I still have the Wordpad file on my flash drive and whenever I open it, all I see is a blank page. I can highlight the area where the text used to be (and it's probably still there), but changing the font/color seems to have no effect. I even tried opening it with Microsoft Word and got the same result. Maybe the program you suggested could restore an older version of the file (since I did open it a few times this week). I'll keep my fingers crossed. Kinda sucks that I'd have to pay to recover, though...lol.

Happy Birthday Graeme!

Thanks everyone, I really should have done that in the first place. I may start writing again but I have a feeling it's going to be hard not to worry about it disappearing on me. I saved all my writing on a flash drive. The problem is, I didn't have multiple copies.

I think it's quite obvious what this topic is about so I'm just going to cut to the chase. I recently lost a part of a chapter I was working on and I have no idea how to get it back. Most recommend backing up your files and since I failed to do that (and only kept one copy of that particular unfinished chapter), it's probably too late to do anything about it now. It's gone. I accept that. It was my responsibility and I should have seen this coming. However, what's really getting to me is the fact that the loss wasn't due to a failing hard drive. All my chapters, character lists and pretty much anything related to my fiction writing are on a flash drive. I was doing some writing a while ago but couldn't get anything out of me so I decided to open another piece I was working on. It's a Wordpad file (they all are). And what do I see? My worst nightmare in the form of a blank white page. I tried highlighting (wondering if it might have changed color by itself), tried copy/pasting to another word processor, tried restarting...and nothing. The entire page was blank. Or I suppose you could say that the text became invisible (since I was able to highlight it but not read anything). I tried Googling and usually, when I'm determined to fix something, I find a way. But I don't think this can be solved. I just needed to vent. And to make matters worse, this situation certainly isn't helping me overcome writer's block. I'm now afraid to write. I can't rely on anything anymore.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARK!

It's beautiful, Sam. I love the imagery.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATRICK!

They're characters from the TV show Queer as Folk. They were dating (each other) but took turns looking for guys to sleep with. In Season 2, I think. Enjoy!

How Brian and Justin of you.

You just think Dexter's hot!

If you're Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Life is a battle. Wear your scars with pride.

I'm hiding in your bushes right now. By the way, I know what you did last summer.

I'm no Obi-Wan of fiction writing, but I'd be more than happy to share a few tips. Usually when I brainstorm ideas for my story, I like to picture random scenes in my head that I intend to write at some point. They aren't always in chronological order but if I find myself wanting an event to occur later in the story (a car crash, for example), I open a word file and type the event, the chapter number and the characters involved. Something like this: CHAPTER 6 - (Character) drives off a cliff That's just to give you an idea where your story may be heading. Nothing has to be set in stone, though. To connect scenes together, I personally like drawing web diagrams on a notepad (because I pace around a lot when I brainstorm). I find that this helps me see the bigger picture and allows me to plan ahead without killing my muse. Here's an example (do not take it seriously): Angel is a vampire--->Xander is in love with Angel--->Angel gets smacked by an old lady with a rolling pin--->Angel gets pretty banged up--->Xander shows up at Angel's place with flowers--->Angel attempts to bite Xander--->Xander drives off in terror--->Old lady crosses the road and causes Xander to swerve to the left and drive off a cliff--->THE END Now obviously that was just a fake plot. It makes absolutely no sense but you get the idea, right? If we hadn't mentioned (or at least alluded to) the fact that Angel was a vampire in the beginning, it wouldn't have made sense for him to want to eat Xander after getting smacked around by the old lady. Also, it's good to have at least a vague idea of the ending in mind. If, let's say, you decide to end a story with a lesbian taking a pregnancy test and finding out she's pregnant, there has to be a point in the story where she's done something to make the pregnancy test scene believable. Is she a surrogate? Has she been with a man at least once? Has she and her partner planned to get artificially inseminated? This way you'd know what events should occur for the story to progress logically and realistically. She can't get pregnant without having done any of the above. Unless, of course, you're writing the Bible. I personally use plot outlines because they help me stay organized but if it's not your thing, remember that many authors get by without it. So whichever works for you. Good luck and have fun planning!