How do you hide your stories on your own computer?

[onehitwanda]

I am glad we don't have to have The Talk.

But it's not June yet!

 

[Bramblethorn]

But it's not June yet!

I always forget when Inappropriate Parasocial Relationships Day is observed.

(I'm being told "every day" but that can't be right?)

 

[StillStunned]

I always forget when Inappropriate Parasocial Relationships Day is observed.

(I'm being told "every day" but that can't be right?)

My stalker told me the same thing, so maybe it's true.

 

[onehitwanda]

I always forget when Inappropriate Parasocial Relationships Day is observed.

It's on the day most inappropriate. Or next Tuesday, whichever is less appropriate.

 

[AG31]

If you're dead, you have bigger concerns than your friends/family stumbling across your porn.

If I'm dead I won't have any concerns at all!

 

[AG31]

No. I’m the only one who uses my computer, and the desktop is password protected in general but I don’t go any further than that. And I’m not ashamed of my stories either. I wouldn’t be writing them if I was. If someone finds them and doesn’t like them, I remind them I have the right to freedom of thought and expression, I’ve done nothing illegal, take it from there.

I'm not ashamed. I just know my family would be completely bewildered and without tools to reassess their understanding of me.

 

[AG31]

I keep mine on a USB stick inside an egg inside the nest of a duck that swims in a well inside a church on an island inside a far-off lake. With a backup in a hole in the ground near a tree by a river. It's not the most convenient but it gets me out of the house.

That sounds like a better approach than mine. I think I'll try it!

 

[AG31]

I prefer “12345” which I also use as the combination on my luggage.

I use 00000 on my luggage.

 

[AchtungNight]

I'm not ashamed. I just know my family would be completely bewildered and without tools to reassess their understanding of me.

I doubt my family would be similar. They’ve always known I’m a little weird and would probably not care in the least- he’s dead, and it’s not like he ever did anything criminal.

I keep mine on a USB stick inside an egg inside the nest of a duck that swims in a well inside a church on an island inside a far-off lake. With a backup in a hole in the ground near a tree by a river. It's not the most convenient but it gets me out of the house.

I referenced this same legend in my story Leap of Faith.

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't bother. Nobody uses my computer but me. On the off chance that someone used my computer I store erotica files in folders that are innocuously labeled. If someone were to search they could find them without much trouble, but that prospect doesn't bother me much.

 

[TheLobster]

Computer? Nah. I store everything at the bottom of a locked cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the leopard."

 

[StillStunned]

Computer? Nah. I store everything at the bottom of a locked cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the leopard."

That's the display department.

 

[OffNSFW]

I prefer “12345” which I also use as the combination on my luggage.

Wow, me too. That's amazing.

Anyway, I tend to think that special programs, password protection, etc. make clear that there's something to hide, whereas simply burying stuff under layers of innocuous file and folder names does the job of deterring any uncomfortable discoveries well enough.

There's an old web authoring principle where everything on your site should take a maximum of three clicks to get to, because that's right around when people decide it's no longer worth it to keep looking. I don't know that there's a lot of research to back that up, but people are generally impatient, especially when there's a screen in their face. I reckon there's some validity to it.

 

[KeithD]

I keep my in-process erotica in an innocuous file in just my mainframe computer, but I get the stories offloaded to other storage (Literotica started off as one of multiple storage sites for me) as soon as I can.

 

[SyleusSnow]

I'm careful to keep my filthy side secret and consulted a security guru on how to do it: How to write smut in secret

 

[samhasstories]

I use an online onedrive account. Hardly foolproof, but I'm not keeping any nuclear codes in there.

 

[hellishrebuke]

I'm living a little dangerously on this... I have a series of stories in one google doc and I hate that you can't password protect individual google docs. But I started out writing in password protected Pages files (for Mac). But I'm not always on my Mac, I actually weirdly do a lot of drafting from my phone so access is important. Both phone and computer are fingerprint/password protected in general.

 

[_Lynn_]

I don't bother hiding anything. No one else uses my computers. And both of my kids know I write and that I began with erotica. Once I'm gone, who cares what they see.

 

[SPARTAN047]

A hidden file, 7-zip encrypted folder, or maybe just sticking it in a place where no one would think to look except an FBI agent (hint, hint) ought to be okay for the average user unless you know they're tech-savvy.

If they are, I suppose you should refuse to let them use your computer and let them use the guest account.