I started writing a short story last weekend. I was in the sun on the Isle of Wight and started to scribble from an idea I’ve had buzzing my head for a couple of years.

Please note the verb ‘scribble’. Thank god I did. I had a note pad and pen, as I was on a walking break with no computer. I’ll put some pics up later, as I was in a beautiful garden attached to Northcourt House.

This morning, sitting in bed, I decided to type up the story so far, to see what it looked like and how it was going. 700 or so words, dark and funny but mainly dark, and I was feeling quite chuffed. My stomach rumbled and I looked at the time – midday! Time for brunch before going to visit friends for tea.

I was struggling to think of a name for the story and that blank in my mind prompted me to ‘don’t save’ instead of ‘save as’.

Thank god I started this story in a notebook. All I have wasted is 45 minutes typing and reading but it’s all there to be rescued later!

Lesson learnt? Save a document before you start filling it with creative writing. Who knows what mistakes your musings will cause!

By Carole Scott