Backing Up Your Work Part One: Why Writers Should Turn to GitHub
Photo by Rubaitul Azad on Unsplash
No writer wants to face the internal horror of losing access to their work. Last year author K. Renee’s had an experience which is a stark reminder that relying solely on cloud storage services like Google Drive, OneDrive or even iCloud can be tremendously risky.
As outlined in the May 2nd article on wired.com titled “What Happens When a Romance Writer Gets Locked Out of Google Docs,” her ordeal forces writers to review their file backup plans and, in some cases, take a second (or third) more intense, look at those End User License Agreements (EULAs) and Privacy Policies.
While these platforms offer convenience, they also come with potential pitfalls, including account lockouts and content removal due to perceived violations of terms of service.
GitHub for Writers?
So, what’s a writer to do? Enter GitHub, a platform traditionally used by software developers to store and share code, but it’s increasingly gaining traction among writers for its robust version control and backup capabilities. At first glance, GitHubcan seem overwhelming and a bit daunting. But, when you genuinely understand the basics, it will become an invaluable tool in your writer’s toolkit, and eventually, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch sooner.
Let’s dive deeper into why GitHub might be the backup solution you never knew you needed.
1. Version Control: GitHub’s core feature is its ability to track changes in your documents over time. This means you can experiment with different versions of your work without fear of losing your original draft. It also lets you see what changes were made and when at a glance, giving you complete control over what to keep according to your drafts.
2. Collaboration: If you’re working with editors or co-authors, GitHub makes it easy to share your work and manage contributions from multiple people. Suppose you and a partner work on the same story but cannot collaborate locally. In that case, GitHub allows you to create branches (think of a tree where the trunk is the original file, and the branches are off-shoots where any changes done do not directly affect the trunk), so original work is overwritten only when merge consent is given.
3. Backup: When using GitHub, your entire writing history is stored on your local machine and GitHub servers, providing a solid and reliable backup solution. Additionally, with a few simple commands in your computer’s terminal, you can upload those backups worry-free. This means that you will have two copies of your file at any given moment, and you can revert to an older version if a mistake is made or if your computer decides to greet you one morning with the dreaded blue screen of death or in the case of MacOS, the perpetually Spinning Beach Ball of Death.
4. Privacy: Unlike some cloud storage services, GitHub allows you to create private repositories, ensuring your unpublished work remains confidential. While some services like Google Drive say that your work is kept private, according to their Privacy Policy, Google never directly specifies what information it is collecting, so if you are writing under an NDA, Google may have access to your work, which could land you in hot water with a client later on.
Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
“We collect information to provide better services to all our users — from figuring out basic stuff like which language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you’ll find most useful, the people who matter most to you online, or which YouTube videos you might like. The information Google collects, and how that information is used, depends on how you use our services and how you manage your privacy controls.
When you’re not signed in to a Google Account, we store the information we collect with unique identifiers tied to the browser, application, or device you’re using. This allows us to do things like maintain your preferences across browsing sessions, such as your preferred language or whether to show you more relevant search results or ads based on your activity.”
Google Privacy Policy
When you use our services, you're trusting us with your information. We understand this is a big responsibility and…
5. Free to Use: One of the significant benefits, and the deciding factor for many writers, is that GitHub offers free accounts with unlimited private repositories for individual users. There are paid plans, but most of the perks of using the paid plan are geared toward coders and more aptly sized corporations. As a writer, you won’t have to upgrade unless you find those extra features valuable to your work.
While GitHub may seem an unconventional choice for writers at first glance, its powerful features make it an invaluable tool for backing up your work, managing versions, and collaborating with others. And, by embracing GitHub, you’re not just protecting your writing from potential loss — you’re opening new possibilities for how you create, edit, and share your work.
Part two of this series discusses getting started with GitHub and everything you need to know about using this fantastic tool as a writer.
So, the next time you sit in front of your computer to get that story onto the page, consider giving GitHub a try. Your future self (and your writing) will thank you for it.
