Guest Author - Elsa Neal

It can be valuable to keep a record of how your novel has developed over the months or years that it takes you to write it. One reason is that you may want to reincorporate some element that you once deleted, or move a spin off plot into a new novel.

But another reason is a legal one: if someone tries to pass off your book as their own, decides to sue you for plagiarism, or you decide to sue someone, you have a regular record of how you have developed your book from initial idea to characterisation, plotting, changes and development of the story. The more notes and drafts you have, the better your documentation will stand up in court. And it is far easier to prove ownership if you can show proof of the time, thought, and writing you've put into your book.

Before you start panicking, realise that theft of an entire book is rare, simply because it is too much work for someone to pass it off as their own book without publishers or agents asking for rewrites that can't be done in the same style.

But similarities in fiction are very easy to come across even when two authors have never met or never read each other's work. There are only 37 dramatic situations, after all, so some ideas are bound to be repeated. Emotions can run high when someone sees a book in print that resembles their own hard work, and it can be difficult to accept that it is a co-incidence.

Saving each draft of your novel

Create a folder called the (Working) Title of the book, or perhaps the main character's name if you haven't yet decided on a title, or any term or phrase that will help you differentiate this novel from any others.

Start with one document called "Title - working doc" and another called "Title - notes". Save all your plot outlines, character notes, and, later, ideas for any changes in the notes file. Begin writing your first draft in the working document.

After you have completed the first draft, or if something major changes in the plot, save a copy of the working document as "Title as at [date] - draft 1".

Continue writing, editing, or rewriting in the working document, saving drafts with the date whenever you think you are going to veer off in a different direction and that you may want to return to this draft.

If you write in a different format (eg, larger typeface) to the standard for submissions, when you come to formatting your document for others, save the new version as "Title as at date - formatted version for [name of agency/publisher]". It's a good idea to indicate the name of the agency or publisher you've sent each version to, so that you are working with the same version if they correspond with you after you might have gone on to make changes. You might want to create a sub-folder for each agency or publisher you deal with so that you can keep track of which version you have sent where, what changes they requested (which may need to be undone again if they change their minds), and copies of all correspondence.

You may also want to save a different format for beta readers. This version should have your copyright information on it since beta readers will not generally be employed in the publishing industry.

You may end up with a number of drafts and also various versions that may be differently formatted or changed specifically to suit different publishers, or even experiments in editing to determine whether you want to run with one idea over another. Keeping the date and draft or version number on each of these will allow you to sort through them easily. Eventually you will end up with "Title - final version - [date]".

Backing up your novel

Always back up your work. I email whatever I've worked on to myself at the end of each day, or more often if I'm working on a particularly complex piece. I use a webmail email address so that the document stays in "cyberspace", while the copy that I sent remains in my email folder. Additional I burn a copy to a rewriteable DVD each day, although I will probably move to using USB memory sticks more often now that they are coming down in price.

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You can never have too many USB memory sticks or Rewritable DVDs to use to back up your work. You should keep several back ups available in case one fails.

Kingston DTI 4 GB USB Flash Drive - this memory stick is able to store 4 gigabytes of information. It plugs straight into your computer's USB port and you can save directly onto it. Five-year warranty.

or Sony 25PK DVD+RW 4.7GB 4X-Spindle - a spindle of 25 re-writable DVD disks able to store 4.7 gigabytes of information each. Compatible with 4X speed DVD writers.