Keep saving your stories

Probably 26 years ago, I was writing a sports column for our newspaper. I'd just finished and was about to hit the button "STORE."

At that moment, lightning hit somewhere, and the power flickered. Naturally, the column was lost, and I went into the men's room to rave and kick the plumbing. Then I went back and re-wrote the column.

Since then, I've learned to save a story after every sentence. You never know when lightning will strike.

More SpeedEditor blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries on The Auto Racing Journal:

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!