Day 1: I didn't cry. I sat in front of the black screen. I tried to turn it on. Again. Again. Nothing.
Day 2: I cried. I called IT. They said: “We'll try.” Not “we will.” “We'll try.”
Day 3: I started writing. One page. It was terrible. I wrote it anyway.
Day 4: I wrote another page. Still terrible. Still writing.
Day 5: I found my notebook. My handwritten notes. I had written down the research questions. The sources. The 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. They're different. They're not worse. They're just different.
What I learned:
Day 2: I cried. I called IT. They said: “We'll try.” Not “we will.” “We'll try.”
Day 3: I started writing. One page. It was terrible. I wrote it anyway.
Day 4: I wrote another page. Still terrible. Still writing.
Day 5: I found my notebook. My handwritten notes. I had written down the research questions. The sources. The 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. They're different. They're not worse. They're just different.
What I learned:
- Back up your work. Obviously. But also: 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.