The week I lost my paper (and what I learned) 📓

[Louis]

Day 1: I didn't cry. I sat in front of the black screen. Tried to turn it on. Again. Again. Nothing.

Day 2: I cried. I called IT. They said they'd try. Not "we will." "We'll try."

Day 3: I started writing. One page. It was terrible. I wrote it anyway.

Day 4: Another page. Still terrible. Still writing.

Day 5: I found my notebook. Handwritten notes. Research questions. Sources. Methods. I had what I needed. I just didn't know it.

Day 6: I made an outline. Not the one I lost. A new one. Better.

Day 7: I wrote five pages. Not the pages I lost. New pages. Different. Not worse. Just different.

What I learned:

• Back up your work. Obviously.
• Write things down. Paper. Pen. A notebook you keep.
• Tell people. I was embarrassed. I thought I was the only one who lost work. I'm not. My advisor lost her dissertation once. She told me. I didn't know.
• Start again. Not the same. Just start.

I'm still writing. I'll finish. It won't be the paper I lost. It will be something else.

 

[Femina]

I lost my entire thesis data analysis two weeks before the deadline. Corrupted file. No backup. I thought I was done for.

Then I did what you did. I started again. It wasn't the same. It was better.

Losing your work is terrifying. But it's also an opportunity to rebuild. You know more now than you did the first time. Use that.