diff --git a/hecto/main.py b/hecto/main.py
index 978f1b2..525f977 100644
--- a/hecto/main.py
+++ b/hecto/main.py
@@ -24,16 +24,17 @@
     "render": ["*.tmpl"],
     "exclude": [
         "~*",
-        "*.py[co]",
+        "~*/*",
+        ".*",
+        ".*/*",
         "__pycache__",
         "__pycache__/*",
-        ".git",
-        ".git/*",
-        ".DS_Store",
-        ".svn",
-        ".hg",
     ],
-    "include": [],
+    "include": [
+        ".gitignore",
+        ".gittouch",
+        ".touch",
+    ],
     "skip_if_exists": [],
 }
 
@@ -148,7 +149,7 @@ def resolve_source_path(src_path):
 def copy_local(
     src_path,
     dst_path,
-    data,
+    data=None,
     *,
     render=None,
     exclude=None,
diff --git a/hecto/utils/load_config.py b/hecto/utils/load_config.py
index 0f5dd0c..4f9c3d6 100644
--- a/hecto/utils/load_config.py
+++ b/hecto/utils/load_config.py
@@ -68,5 +68,5 @@ def _load_user_defaults(src_files):
         path = Path(path)
         if not path.exists():
             continue
-        return yaml.safe_load(path.read_text())
+        return yaml.safe_load(path.read_text()) or {}
     return {}