Writng-Keeping versions straight

Posted by Ken
Jul 8, 2011 at 10:43 PM

Jim wrote:

> Does
>anyone have a good system for keeping different versions of a manuscript sorted out? I
>just finished writing a review article for a journal. As I was writing, I kept things
>organized the way I normally do, which is to say not very systematically. Versions
>were named Document_1.doc, and as time went on, things devolved to Document
>_3_revisions.doc. Then various versions of final: Document_4_final.doc,
>Document_4_final2.doc etc. In the end, I had an unholy mess after I added references.
> >
>This raised a question for me-before I start my next writing project, what is the
>best way to keep track of versions? I don’t like to overwrite earlier versions because
>I might go back and pull something out that I deleted in a later version.

Jim,

The mess that you describe does not seem that unholy. Perhaps you could take a few moments and clean up the naming structure, but otherwise it seems reasonable. I like to follow the software convention of numbering versions, but the most that I would go is one place right of the decimal, and usually I do not even go that far. Now, if you are working with another person, then all bets are off. Why not KISS?

—Ken