I wrote about having to start over recently do to my own… what?…restlessness perhaps, but it’s been an interesting time with technical issues all the way around.

I started the technical problems myself, getting rid of a few things I shouldn’t have, not here but on a few of the other blogs I own. I’ve been doing my best to remedy that. In the meantime, however, technical problems have found me in other ways, like:

• Facebook being weird
• Computer clunking out (that’s code for need to get a new one)
• Networked blogs not posting my posts (or rather, posting them but then not taking people there when they click on the link)
• Automatic backups that weren’t running

And on and on. It’s enough to make you tear your hair out.

But don’t do that. (Tear your hair out, I mean.) Instead, do what I’ve been doing:

Try your best to plan for emergencies. Oh, I know, the whole reason technical problems stink is because you can’t plan for them. A while back I wrote about backups on my writing blog, which was inspired because my computer when haywire and I had to really scramble to get back on my feet.

Be grateful for the lesson. I sound so Oprah here, don’t I? I can even hear her saying this in her great Oprah voice: be thankful for the lesson. Yes, it’s true. Technical difficulties are the perfect time to show a little gratitude. You’ll see who will help you out, your own strengths at overcoming diversity, and all things that are beyond your control (which means don’t bother worrying about them because you can’t.)

Put it all in perspective. It can feel like your world is crumbling when your computer and social network is beyond your reach, but take a breath. It’s not the end of the world. Even if you have to start all over and write your novel again (I know, the worst possible thing, right?) you’ll manage it. It might even be better for you. Hemingway’s wife Hadley famously lost his entire manuscript (including the carbon copies), and he probably became a better writer for it.