Sneaky question!
I mean - "do you copy - to hard-copy, disc, other digital device?"
I think that you - everyone - should.
I have rummaged through some old hard copies today...
Apart from proving that my house is definitely getting smaller and that I have tons of paper stored it has shown me that I can find material that has wondered off beyond my knowing where to find it in the PC...
BUT! It has also given me an opportunity to see something of how my writing has developed - and, hopefully, improved.
All I have to do now is think about getting a warehouse...
:-)
So? Do you look back at copies of your old work? It can be very encouraging...
David
I used to keep hard copies of everything I wrote, but I stopped doing that about five years ago. I have recently reread some of my old stuff and it felt as though it was written by a stranger.
Nowadays I try to back up onto disk at least once a month (but it's often longer). Sometime (in the future) perhaps I'll reread some of it. Or maybe not.
I still have the first novel I wrote, partly in longhand - this was in in the Dark Ages.before Bill Gates but after Clive Sinclair - in a box in the attic.
I thought it was really good at the time, but it's utter sh*te. Even the plot is so '70s thriller'.
We live and learn. One day I'll burn the lot but, to coin a phrase, 'this is not that day'.
As to current stuff, I keep my final edit hardcopy, but I probably never read it again - too many crossings-out!
I doubt if I will revisit my early work as I have moved on.
But I do have printed copies of my work. I have copies on two laptops, and a PC with my work stored on 3 drives. At least a hundred back-up CD's. 3 memory sticks and an external hard-drive with my work on.
I am not paranoid, Ok. If you don't believe me, then ask that man who has been following me.