At least in medieval Europe--wax tablets!

Think of, sort of, a picture frame with a layer of wax spread across it, and some kind of stylus if possible. These were used for temporary communication and rough drafts and such, especially in the era of rather expensive parchment.

Probably the most "famous" (...lol) use of wax tablets is recorded in Eadmer's Life of Anselm of Canterbury, an 11th century bishop and one of the most important theologians of the Middle Ages, and it describes how Anselm was almost only 75% of his role as one of the most important theologians of the Middle Ages.

One night in the middle of the night, Anselm had a sudden flash of (divine, of course) inspiration for how to write the book he had been struggling for quite some time to write. He grabbed for wax tablets to scribble it down immediately, then handed it off to another monk.

Who promptly lost them.

Anselm tried again. This time he trusted nobody with them, and it seems, stacked them up next to him this other night.

And woke up in the morning with the tablets strewn about the floor.

Eadmer doesn't give any further details about whether they were out of order, or partially erased, and so forth. One way or another, Anselm painstakingly rescued his second draft out of the pieces. And after composing this third draft (whether just putting pieces in the right order, or filling in missing bits as well), he had other monks do the dirty work immediately and get the thing onto parchment.

Which, I suppose, is a really excellent reminder to save early and often.