It's better to have written and lost than... by Annmarie Miles
One of my older brothers (I have four) texted me today to tell me about a story he had been working on. Most of his writing is connected to his job, but he has written some lovely memoir pieces and he definitely has a flair. He told me he had been working on this story for a few months. It was based on people we knew, but he had embellished it. He mentioned the emotional investment he had put into it and I could understand that. The couple he was basing it on were very special to us as a family. We were a family of eight children (I also have three older sisters), and this lovely couple were childless and showed us great affection as kids. I was getting excited as I read his text. It sounded wonderful. Then he dropped the bombshell... laptop crashed, hard drive irretrievable, story gone forever. He is my older brother, but not this old I was gutted for him. Many if not all writers have had this happen, and it can be crushing. When we've invested our time and our heart ...