Post #26 – Memoir Writing, Journaling – Amber Starfire
–
For journal writers, especially those of us who use journaling as a starting point for memoir, it’s important to think about the safety and storage of our writing.
I think about this topic from time to time, because when my mother died I was gifted with boxes and boxes containing copies of every letter she’d ever written or received, as well as her personal journals — no small thing, as my mother was a prolific writer in her own right. Many of those letters and journals were written before the advent of the personal computer, but just as many were not. She had, however, printed everything and filed it away in an envelope with the year written on it.
And I’m glad she did, because my mother — never an adopter of new technologies — was still using an old Windows PC, an antiquated version of WordStar, and floppy disks. When she was moved out of her apartment, everything she owned was put in storage. By the time she passed away, the disks and computer had been separated, and the computer itself no longer seemed to function properly.
Yes, I’m sure we could have found an expensive someone to read the data on those old floppies and transfer the files to CDs or a hard drive, but because my mother printed hard copies of everything, there was no need.
The lesson, for me, was to think about where I was storing my most precious documents — my digital pictures, journals, and correspondence — and whether that storage media would be sufficient. A few days ago, this topic resurfaced when I read an article in the Guardian about Digital Archiving.
My bottom line advice? Don’t let your writing pass away with you. If you want to preserve your work, print hard copies, file, and store everything in a secure location. (In my opinion, this would not be in your attic, but in an off-site storage location.) Also, be sure to assign someone the rights to all digital accounts that relate to your work. For example, I keep files on my Mobile.me and Dropbox accounts, which allow me to work on current writing projects from any location. My assigned executor will be able to access my files and ensure that my work, including my journal writing, is preserved.
For more on this topic, read my related article, What Will Happen to Your Journals? on WritingThroughLife.com.
Join the conversation. Have you thought about this topic before, or is it new to you? Where do you store copies of your journaling, memoir and other writing? Where will your writing be in 100 years?
____________________________________________
journaling
memoir journaling
journal writing prompt
reflective journaling
Photo by Raymond Gilford
–
