Tabby Talk is a discussion post I thought I'd do occasionally where I'll share my random thoughts on something and include my cat in them ;)
Today I'm wondering how everyone drafts their reviews and whether you save a (physical or digital) copy of it.
So lately I've just not been feeling up to writing reviews. I used to feel very excited to start a blank page and then fill it up with my thoughts. Not so much any more :( This got me thinking maybe I need to change it up and write my reviews somewhere other than in the draft section of Blogger.
Usually while I read, I jot down bullet point notes about the book in my phone's notepad. After I'm finished with the book, I translate those notes into complete sentences and finish writing up my review (before blogging) under Goodreads' review section and (after I started my blog) in Blogger's draft section. I guess it could be I'm kind of tired of staring at the same interface so lately I've been less motivated to write reviews. How do you draft up your reviews? Do you physically write it out? Or are you like me and use the draft section? Do you ever feel like it's daunting to stare at the same blank page and have nothing to write down?
This brings me to another question that I've had for a long time. The problem with using Blogger or any type of blogging platform to write up reviews is you don't get a copy of it! Whatever publishes is what you have. So if for whatever reason, Blogger ever fails or Goodreads ever gets deleted (my weird irrational fears) then I would lose all my reviews. All my hard work gone. Poof. Since realizing that, I've started saving copies of my reviews but I haven't gotten around to saving the older posts. Now I'm wondering, do you save a copy of your review in your computer? Maybe a physical print out just in case something unexplainable ever happens?
I've got the solution to your receiving a copy problem! If you go to settings on blogger and click on "mobile and email" a page will start show up with 2 boxes. The first will say comment notification email and the second will say email posts to. If you put your email in and enable "email posts to" every time you post something new, a copy will be sent to your email.
ReplyDeleteI use this and just save all my blog posts in a folder in my email :D
I hoped this help ease your worries because it sure did ease mine when I discovered it!
Wow thanks Maria!! This is very helpful :D
DeleteI sometimes get real lazy about writing my reviews, but mainly because I just wish I could somehow transfer my thoughts without typing anything. See? Lazy, LOL. But in a way, I like writing them down in the blogger draft section when I feel inspired. I've tried to do like audio reviews (for those lazy days) as note-taking but I never end up using in my actual reviews what I say.
ReplyDeleteOh, I had never put much thought about backing up my book reviews before. o.o But I'm signed up to my feed and I receive all my posts in the mail. So that must work, right? :)
Lol you're definitely not the only one Melissa ;) I always wish that my thoughts can magically be transferred onto the computer and in complete sentences too. Somehow. Maybe someday :P
DeleteI'm signed up to my own too but what Maria said above helps too :D
I usually write my reviews directly on to WP. I only use a notebook when I'm at the cabin because there's no internet there. But yeah, I would have to agree that it would be nice to have all my reviews saved on my hard drive instead of in a cloud somewhere. Lol.
ReplyDeleteit's somewhere out there ;) I'm not sure about WP but it must have a feature similar to what Maria mentioned above! I hope you find a way Joy.
DeleteI haven't saved any of my reviews in any other place than GR or Blogger... maybe I should start saving them too!
ReplyDeleteOnly if you want to! I'm just always paranoid haha XD
DeleteOoh now you got me think that I should save my review somewhere! But mine are also on Goodreads. Also I have this weird slum with reviews right now. I just can't get myself to focus and it's just annoying me because I'll start to forget my thoughts. It has been helping me to actually write them out by pen. And it's a bigger help when I have notes to get me started.
ReplyDelete~Karina @ A Reader Under The Sea
I'll have to try writing it out by pen! I know exactly what you mean because I'm exactly like this too. I just can't get up the energy to write :( Hopefully it'll pass soon!
DeleteGIRL! You just seriously freaked me out about losing my reviews. I have never thought about that. I actually used to write my reviews in word and then copy them into blogger but I stopped doing that. I also used to write down my thoughts while I was reading and I stopped doing that too. Now I just do bang it out usually the day before I post the review. I actually did a whole post about my ratings and how I review today.
ReplyDeleteCassi @ My Thought Literally
Oops, I'm just normally paranoid haha. So jealous you're able to write your review in one take! It usually takes me a couple tries to finish writing up my review cause I procrastinate like crazy lol!
DeleteI think I am in a reviewing slump. I just want to read this book, then that book and not have to worry about writing the reviews. I sat down yesterday and wrote three and it was such a struggle because I let them pile up and I didn't want to write them. I'm wondering if maybe the same interface is playing a role in that. I write my reviews straight in WP drafts and schedule them for their publication dates. When I first started I would write physical notes, and then I found I was being too tedious and meticulous with them. Sometimes I may open up a draft form of the review and jot down some bullets, phrases or sentences to come back to later. And I don't save my reviews either. I should, given my luck with technology. In the last school year alone I went through 3 projectors, an ELMO and three laptops (of course, they are all refurbished...so, that may not be me!), but I've had computer crashes that were devastating.
ReplyDeleteAww I hope you're current computer is doing alright! I totally understand the slump. I just want to read and read but then I remember all those reviews waiting for me and it gets a little burdensome :( Hopefully it passes for the both of us soon!
DeleteI always write my reviews up in Notepad and save them to a Book Review folder on my computer before I post them on my site. I've had one too many time where I unexpectedly lost power over the years, and lost anything I'd been working on to just type it all up in WordPress.
ReplyDeleteI also try to remember a few times a month to back up my blog using the Export feature. Which saves everything (reviews, pictures, etc.) in an .xml file and save THAT to my computer. And because I've lost harddrives before as well, I subscribed to iDrive which auto-saves everything in the folders I've chosen twice a week. Paranoid? Who, me? *laughs*
Wow that is a lot of work but I'm sure it's totally worth it! Very smart!!
DeleteI subscribe to my blog by email so I get an email that has my review in it once it's published. I know that doesn't help if, for some reason, Wordpress were to lose my draft before it actually publishes, but I don't think it's that a big deal because I always have my notes to refer to if I were to have to rewrite the review. I've never lost a review--knock on wood--but I don't think it would be that big of a deal if I did. It's not like my reviews are literary masterpieces, anyway :)
ReplyDeleteOn Wordpress you can have a backup plug-in which really helps for this very reason. I think there's a way to backup Blogger too. You should look into it!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction