Have you ever wanted to commit computercide? Be truthful…!!

I wrote this on Jan 8,2015 Blog titled – What have I gotten myself into?

When you decided to write your first book, I have no
doubt you thought the same as myself. You would become an author. A writer of
stories! An entertainer of sorts! And that would be your goal. The work that
would earn you a living (hopefully) and gain you some small acclaim with
readers.

What you didn’t realize was that today, to become
successful in this career, you must take on numerous roles. If you learn
nothing else from me and my posts, please do understand this. You will need to
teach yourself things you never thought you could learn.

3.  Computer geek – I love/hate this one!!

Today, to be a writer, you must use the tools of the
day. And learn how to operate them well. Otherwise, they will sabotage you at
every turn. Of course, I’m talking about the computer in whatever configuration you’ve chosen. Be it a laptop or a PC or some other weird concoction of
using a keyboard and a monitor, you will
need to understand as much as you can about your personal device so that you become
as efficient as possible.

Some of my colleagues still choose to hand-write their first drafts and then type them into the computer’s files. Since my
writing it atrocious, I cannot fathom this method. But if it helps one create,
then you must do what you must do. Still, sooner or later, you will be entering
those words into the computer, right? That’s just the way it is.

I know others who use a Dragon application of
dictation and it works very well for them. As they explained, it takes some
time and practice to be proficient, but with determination, it is a method of
writing one’s books. Oh yeah… wait a minute. At some point, it still has to end up in the computer where you have to deal with it.

I have no doubt there are other ways that some
writers have come up with that they’ve utilized in their endeavors to get words
on a page, I don’t know them all.

What I do know is that whatever method you decide
works for you, become as knowledgeable about their functions as possible.
There’s nothing more annoying than having to perform some task and having the
machine you rely on let you down. Computercide might pop into your head (it has
in mine repeatedly) but nine times out of ten—let’s face it—it isn’t the
hardware, it’s the operator. I don’t know how often I’ve freaked out when
the computer wouldn’t let me do something, only to find out, I was going about
it all wrong.

How many times have you tried to correct work that wasn’t formatted right, or a page not set up the way it needed to be, or…or…or…
you know what I mean? We’ve all been there a thousand times. It’s frustrating
and freakin’ annoying when the damn machine you rely on, turns on you – or so it seems when it happens.

My advice is to take the time and trouble to learn
how your device works and the best way I know how is by asking on the “help”
pages you’ll find with every program.

OR – now pay attention – this is the best advice I can give you –

Are
you ready??

Go
to GOOGLE SEARCH and write: How to (insert whatever it is you need to know
here) and watch all the articles pop up.

Another
place to find answers – go to UTUBE and write: How to (insert whatever it is you
need to know here) and many times, you’ll be able to watch a video that will
show you what you needed to know which works great for me.

Very seldom have these sites let me down. If you
still aren’t satisfied with the answers, ask on one of the Social Media sites.
Trust me – there’s someone out there who has run into a similar problem and
will be glad to help.

Just don’t let these darn machines win. What seems
insurmountable now will be nothing once you know what to do. Unfortunately,
every time I pat my back for learning something new, another
question/problem/headache pops up!!!