Twas the Night Before Launching
<Taps microphone. Clears throat.>
Twas the night before launching,
And all through my Mac,
I was editing my podcast,
And chatting in Slack.
My audio was set, all perfectly cut,
When suddenly I shouted, “OH CRAP, WHAT THE WHAT!?”
GarageBand had crashed, the message told me.
Two hours of work, gone — maybe even three!
Away to their Help Center, I flew like a flash:
“Recovering files in the event of a crash.”
The sadness it hit me like a face full of snow:
“You're basically screwed,” said the article below.
Apple couldn’t help me, that much was clear.
So I faced a tough choice: Keep trying, or drink beer.
Clenching my jaw, I gave my mouse a flick.
“I can figure this out. It’s fine. I’ll be quick.”
More rapid than Tinder, I flipped through some sites,
Through forums of people ... mostly getting into fights.
“Screw Apple! This sucks! They never help out!”
“Apple rules! You’re a troll!” I heard the nerds shout.
Like political "debate" on your Facebook wall,
With each angry comment, my spirits did fall.
I'd lost my whole file and thought I might cry.
How did hours of my work just suddenly die?!
As I cracked open a beer and was turning around,
A voice popped to mind, with a familiar sound:
“Save your work often!” my dad likes to say.
(A phrase I could have used a bit earlier this day.)
But out of nowhere I laughed, like a jolly old elf.
"This is all kinda funny," I thought myself.
I’d committed this blunder -- it wasn’t the tool.
I'd forgotten to save, so I felt like a fool.
But if I was to blame, then why act like a jerk?
So I spoke not a word, and went straight back to work.
And laying more tracks for my podcast, I knew,
If this were next time, I’d know just what to do.
I'd open a folder with the original file,
And just keep on working away with a smile.
I'd never again feel this kind of stress
While having to dig myself out of this mess.
To fellow creatives, I have one message to heed,
One phrase to remember, one trick to succeed.
Please learn from my tale, please remember my name,
That you may not falter or suffer the same.
The moral of my story? I guess this is it:
When doing creative work: Back up your shit.
Hear the podcast that caused me to write this:
Traction, a narrative-style show about creative, clever, and unusual ways startups start.
iTunes | SoundCloud | Stitcher
Including stories from founders of LinkedIn, DraftKings, Mattermark, Quibb, General Assembly, InsightSquared, Duck Duck Go, NatureBox, and more.
This post's "One Different Thing" = Poem
^ What is this? ^
Content marketing would be a much better industry for both practitioners and audiences if we tried to do just one subtle new thing in each piece we created, rather than churn out more copycat junk. It's a small thing to try that could make a big difference. Read more about the One Different Thing challenge.