Editing Tip of the Day: Back it Up!

Today's editing tip will hopefully not only help you keep rejections at bay, but also will help you keep heartache away.
Back up your work in multiple locations, in multiple formats.
Thankfully, this particular post is not inspired by recent personal experience, so no need for condolences. But we've all had that mini heart attack when the work-in-progress begins to load, and it looks like half the document is missing. However, computers crash, files get corrupted... There are too many ways to lose your precious work to list them all here.
And your work is precious. It's something unique, that only you can create and add to the world. So treat it accordingly.

What does back it up in multiple locations mean, and why should you do it?
Multiple locations means more than just different folders on your computer. Computer experts recommend using at least two or three different types and locations of backup for any important documents. If all your backups are on a laptop, and that laptop gets stolen, then you're out of luck. If you use a home computer and an external hard drive or USB drive and you have a fire, your work is gone.

A good plan includes backing up your work with multiple versions on the device you write on  AND backing it up online somehow. External drives/USB drives are also useful, as long as you update them frequently. Having multiple versions is handy in case the file ever becomes corrupted or you simply change your mind about that massive revision. It's also a fascinating snapshot of how your work has progressed during revisions.

Backing your files up online can be done several different ways.
1. You can periodically email yourself your manuscript as an attachment. I like to email it as a PDF and a .docx file, just in case. You can even email your manuscript as a PDF to your e-reader, if you have one. (For Kindle, if you go to "Manage your content and devices," and then the "Devices" tab, you can click on the ellipsis button to the left of your Kindle and it will bring up your device's email.)
2. You can also use a service like Dropbox, which provides free online storage up to a certain amount per user. The great thing about Dropbox is you can set it to sync across your devices, and you can tell it how often to save and backup your work.
3. You can use Google docs, which will automatically save and sync across devices as well.
4. Microsoft's OneDrive is similar, although I personally have trouble getting mine to sync.

Why back up in multiple locations? Because redundancy, in this case, is your friend. If you lose your computer somehow, you'll still have online versions. If your internet is down and you can't access your Google docs, you'll still have a copy on your computer. If you want to work on your manuscript away from home, you can access it on your phone. You can take a USB stick and borrow a friend's computer. Back it up enough ways, and you'll be able to deal with just about any problem. No more writer nightmares of losing hours worth of work because Windows decided to update or your battery ran out.