Oh man, this week has been one heck of a whirlwind. It's been one stressful thing after another, and I kinda just feel like I blinked and all of a sudden it was Friday and I hadn't really accomplished much. It seemed like my bad luck from a few weeks ago wasn't quite done with me yet, and it had a few surprises left in store for me. It's been...interesting to say the least.
I was so ready to have a nice productive week of writing and getting so much organised in terms of ideas. By the end of Friday, I was ready to conquer the next week and was feeling really optimistic. But I guess I must have jinxed myself. Because the next day my laptop then reliably informed me that my Microsoft license had expired. I already struggled to write and upload stuff on this laptop anyway since it's a very...let's just say not very good laptop. I could use a stronger word, but I like to keep these blog posts PG rated. When I had got this laptop, I had originally gotten the Microsoft package using my university details, but now that I'm not a student, they have now got rid of me off the system, meaning I can't use it anymore. I'd honestly completely forgotten about it, and had been using it long after I graduated, so I thought that I could just continue using it.
Anyone else would be able to use other software to write on, but not me. Thanks to my dyscalculia, I completely rely on Microsoft Word to help me judge how long my chapters are. When I use other stuff, I just end up confused and disorientated. So I like to stick with what I'm used to. But I thought it's no big deal, since I still have my other computer that has Word on it. So when I went on it on Sunday to start trying to write the next chapter of Chat Vert, the whole thing completely crashed on me out of nowhere. It randomly logged me off before getting stuck in an infinite loop. So I shut it down and re-started it, only for it to then try and do some sort of update and get stuck in an infinite loop again. My computer has been in dire need of repairing for years thanks for my brother breaking it, but at least up until now, it's been able to at least somewhat function.
I asked my boyfriend for advice since he's a tech genius, and he thinks that my brother must have deleted something off it that allows it to properly update and shut down and stuff, as well as function normally. He thinks the best thing for it is a full-on windows re-installation. So now I just hope I can find this 'windows key' or whatever it was he was talking about, because if not, that computer is screwed until I can afford to buy a new windows package - which are super expensive.
So at this point I was panicking. I had a barely functioning laptop that I couldn't write on, and a computer that kept randomly crashing on me and getting stuck in infinite loops. Because not only do I use my laptop and computer for writing, but I use it for work as well. I was in utter disbelief that BOTH of my computers had broke at the same time. It was like some Y2K19 bug had struck my computers down! Because I mean, what are the chances? I was beginning to seriously worry that I was going to have to go on some sort of hiatus until I could sort myself out.
But then I remembered that I still kept my old laptop somewhere. I remember the thing was still running okay when I had it, I just had a broken disk drive, camera and microphone, and the charger was a bit fickle. So I dug it out and started it up again. It coughed and it wheezed, but I finally got it going after having to switch it on and off a few times. The poor thing was in need of so many updates since it hadn't been touched in three years, but it chugged along and managed to get them all done. It took forever, but it was worth the wait to have a gloriously working laptop again. And the sad thing is, it still functioned better and quicker than my current laptop. Can you tell how much I hate my current laptop? It's processor is literally the worst. I can barely do anything on it, it's so slow and stubborn.
So yeah, bow down to my old, beautiful laptop! It's our saviour! Without this, I wouldn't be able to write right now. I'd be stuck, and you'd be without content. Also, huge shout out to my boyfriend for putting up with my panicking and temper tantrums as I tried to get everything to work. Ugh, it was just so stressful. I really was scared that I wouldn't be able to do any work or writing. I'm sure I would have found a way at some point, but it was still terrifying. My mum even offered to lend me some money to buy another one, but I really didn't want to be in debt as I'm poor enough as it is.
So all of that was a harrowing ordeal. Luckily, I did manage to get the next chapter of Chat Vert out, which you can now read by clicking here if you haven't already. That chapter was so difficult to write. Not only was it really hard because it was an action chapter, but I had to get used to my old keyboard again, and some of them were quite old and sticky. There were so many errors when I went back to edit. It literally looked like a three year old had written it. I tried a technique I had learnt off LycoRogue: changing the font to help the editing process and make it easier to catch errors. So I just hope that I did manage to get most of them and that there weren't any glaring ones that interrupted the flow of things.
Sadly though, Madness Within ended up getting delayed and still probably won't be posted until some time this weekend if I'm lucky. With the stress of my computers, getting the next chapter of Chat Vert written and battling some huge anxiety attacks this week, I just couldn't bring myself to face such an important and crucial chapter of that story. Because I need to be fully alert and prepared to write that chapter. It's huge. The last thing I want to do is put in little effort because my mind is distracted. I really am sorry guys, but I figured you'd rather wait for something of high quality than me forcing out some poor quality trash. I had hoped to maybe get the chapter out today, but my great-aunt went missing, so that was pretty terrifying. Luckily we found her and she was safe, but man it sure was worrying at the time. I was super exhausted after the ordeal and just ended up collapsing in bed and watching videos all day.
Speaking of Madness Within, I had an awesome anonymous review the other day. I just wish that this person had an account so that I could thank them properly. They offered me some very valuable writing advice and constructive criticism that was very valuable and welcomed with open arms.
Random guest reviewer, you are such a huge help and certainly didn't come across as rude. Offering advice like this is never rude. A lot of people on fanfiction, including myself, are often on the site because we're aspiring writers and trying to get some practice, so when people actually provide us with advice and polite constructive criticism, it's always like finding gold. Not that I don't love and appreciate short reviews just saying they like my story, all reviews are helpful, it's just also always good to know if there's something I need to improve on. Especially since I want to write professionally one day. Stuff like this is always incredibly helpful. So thank you for your advice! I'll be sure to try and incorporate it in the future.
But anyway, the stress of the week also meant that I didn't really get around to starting to write Immortal Bond this week like I had planned. I was pretty annoyed at that as I feel like this story keeps facing delay after delay. I'm literally on the verge of making a deal with a demon to maybe have that story just write itself at this point. But alas, I already owe my soul to several more people and creatures at this point. I think I'm just going to try and take this story one day at a time now and try not to plan ahead too much, because those plans always end up falling apart anyway, whether it's a plot hole or my personal life getting in the way.
But I did manage to focus on some smaller projects this week. I'm still a bit of an idea machine, so I've come up with a few more story ideas as well as added ideas to ones that I already had. You can click here to visit my fanfiction profile and see a full list of all the Miraculous Ladybug fics that I currently have planned. Though bear in mind that a lot of those titles may be subject to change if I feel like I can come up with something better. I literally have no idea where this burst of creativity and imagination has come from, but oh well, at least it means I can claim that I have gotten some work done this week. I'm super excited to work on all of them.
My notebook is now super full and I've had to get myself a new one due to all of the ideas my brain has decided to come up with lately. But at least all of these should keep me busy for at least a year so I don't have to worry about any stagnation like I was worried about when I had to put Immortal Bond on hold, leaving me with only Madness Within to work on. I like to have a bit of variety so I can work on a story depending on my mood and so things don't feel stale for me. I even came up with a few W.I.T.C.H one-shots which I haven't been able to do for years. It's been so long since I've written for any other fandom.
Oh yeah, and as always, chapter ten of Destiny's Dance has now been cleaned up and posted on FanFiction as well as AO3 which you can read by clicking here. Chapter 14 of Madness Within has also been cleaned on FanFiction and has been posted on AO3, so you can click here to read that too.
Don't forget that new episode reviews are still being posted every Monday, well, that is until I catch up with the last episode that was released. So you can expect to see my review for Backwarder being posted this coming Monday, and I'm super excited for that one. It has been one of my favourite episodes so far, and I really love reading any comments that you guys leave, letting me know your opinions as well. Because as you know, I love to debate and learn what other people think, so never be shy to talk to me.
Anyway, that's all I really have to talk about this week. Once this is posted, I'm probably going to collapse back in bed again. I almost feel faint after all the stress of this week. I think the universe was trying to see how close it could get to giving me a heart attack. At least that's how it felt anyway. I need some sweet sweet relaxation.
Pixie out.
I was so ready to have a nice productive week of writing and getting so much organised in terms of ideas. By the end of Friday, I was ready to conquer the next week and was feeling really optimistic. But I guess I must have jinxed myself. Because the next day my laptop then reliably informed me that my Microsoft license had expired. I already struggled to write and upload stuff on this laptop anyway since it's a very...let's just say not very good laptop. I could use a stronger word, but I like to keep these blog posts PG rated. When I had got this laptop, I had originally gotten the Microsoft package using my university details, but now that I'm not a student, they have now got rid of me off the system, meaning I can't use it anymore. I'd honestly completely forgotten about it, and had been using it long after I graduated, so I thought that I could just continue using it.
Anyone else would be able to use other software to write on, but not me. Thanks to my dyscalculia, I completely rely on Microsoft Word to help me judge how long my chapters are. When I use other stuff, I just end up confused and disorientated. So I like to stick with what I'm used to. But I thought it's no big deal, since I still have my other computer that has Word on it. So when I went on it on Sunday to start trying to write the next chapter of Chat Vert, the whole thing completely crashed on me out of nowhere. It randomly logged me off before getting stuck in an infinite loop. So I shut it down and re-started it, only for it to then try and do some sort of update and get stuck in an infinite loop again. My computer has been in dire need of repairing for years thanks for my brother breaking it, but at least up until now, it's been able to at least somewhat function.
I asked my boyfriend for advice since he's a tech genius, and he thinks that my brother must have deleted something off it that allows it to properly update and shut down and stuff, as well as function normally. He thinks the best thing for it is a full-on windows re-installation. So now I just hope I can find this 'windows key' or whatever it was he was talking about, because if not, that computer is screwed until I can afford to buy a new windows package - which are super expensive.
So at this point I was panicking. I had a barely functioning laptop that I couldn't write on, and a computer that kept randomly crashing on me and getting stuck in infinite loops. Because not only do I use my laptop and computer for writing, but I use it for work as well. I was in utter disbelief that BOTH of my computers had broke at the same time. It was like some Y2K19 bug had struck my computers down! Because I mean, what are the chances? I was beginning to seriously worry that I was going to have to go on some sort of hiatus until I could sort myself out.
But then I remembered that I still kept my old laptop somewhere. I remember the thing was still running okay when I had it, I just had a broken disk drive, camera and microphone, and the charger was a bit fickle. So I dug it out and started it up again. It coughed and it wheezed, but I finally got it going after having to switch it on and off a few times. The poor thing was in need of so many updates since it hadn't been touched in three years, but it chugged along and managed to get them all done. It took forever, but it was worth the wait to have a gloriously working laptop again. And the sad thing is, it still functioned better and quicker than my current laptop. Can you tell how much I hate my current laptop? It's processor is literally the worst. I can barely do anything on it, it's so slow and stubborn.
 |
| Our saviour! |
So yeah, bow down to my old, beautiful laptop! It's our saviour! Without this, I wouldn't be able to write right now. I'd be stuck, and you'd be without content. Also, huge shout out to my boyfriend for putting up with my panicking and temper tantrums as I tried to get everything to work. Ugh, it was just so stressful. I really was scared that I wouldn't be able to do any work or writing. I'm sure I would have found a way at some point, but it was still terrifying. My mum even offered to lend me some money to buy another one, but I really didn't want to be in debt as I'm poor enough as it is.
So all of that was a harrowing ordeal. Luckily, I did manage to get the next chapter of Chat Vert out, which you can now read by clicking here if you haven't already. That chapter was so difficult to write. Not only was it really hard because it was an action chapter, but I had to get used to my old keyboard again, and some of them were quite old and sticky. There were so many errors when I went back to edit. It literally looked like a three year old had written it. I tried a technique I had learnt off LycoRogue: changing the font to help the editing process and make it easier to catch errors. So I just hope that I did manage to get most of them and that there weren't any glaring ones that interrupted the flow of things.
Sadly though, Madness Within ended up getting delayed and still probably won't be posted until some time this weekend if I'm lucky. With the stress of my computers, getting the next chapter of Chat Vert written and battling some huge anxiety attacks this week, I just couldn't bring myself to face such an important and crucial chapter of that story. Because I need to be fully alert and prepared to write that chapter. It's huge. The last thing I want to do is put in little effort because my mind is distracted. I really am sorry guys, but I figured you'd rather wait for something of high quality than me forcing out some poor quality trash. I had hoped to maybe get the chapter out today, but my great-aunt went missing, so that was pretty terrifying. Luckily we found her and she was safe, but man it sure was worrying at the time. I was super exhausted after the ordeal and just ended up collapsing in bed and watching videos all day.
Speaking of Madness Within, I had an awesome anonymous review the other day. I just wish that this person had an account so that I could thank them properly. They offered me some very valuable writing advice and constructive criticism that was very valuable and welcomed with open arms.
"Hey haven’t read this in a while and am just catching up, and this is amazing so far. I can’t wait until the next chapter!
I notice that you do something when writing that I used to do
M-most people don’t t-talk like th-this
It’s more... it’s more going back and... and starting over. Maybe...maybe repeating some words
Not trying to be rude but it’s actually true. If it help trying saying both aloud and seeing which sounds like something you would say (more natural)"
Random guest reviewer, you are such a huge help and certainly didn't come across as rude. Offering advice like this is never rude. A lot of people on fanfiction, including myself, are often on the site because we're aspiring writers and trying to get some practice, so when people actually provide us with advice and polite constructive criticism, it's always like finding gold. Not that I don't love and appreciate short reviews just saying they like my story, all reviews are helpful, it's just also always good to know if there's something I need to improve on. Especially since I want to write professionally one day. Stuff like this is always incredibly helpful. So thank you for your advice! I'll be sure to try and incorporate it in the future.
But anyway, the stress of the week also meant that I didn't really get around to starting to write Immortal Bond this week like I had planned. I was pretty annoyed at that as I feel like this story keeps facing delay after delay. I'm literally on the verge of making a deal with a demon to maybe have that story just write itself at this point. But alas, I already owe my soul to several more people and creatures at this point. I think I'm just going to try and take this story one day at a time now and try not to plan ahead too much, because those plans always end up falling apart anyway, whether it's a plot hole or my personal life getting in the way.
But I did manage to focus on some smaller projects this week. I'm still a bit of an idea machine, so I've come up with a few more story ideas as well as added ideas to ones that I already had. You can click here to visit my fanfiction profile and see a full list of all the Miraculous Ladybug fics that I currently have planned. Though bear in mind that a lot of those titles may be subject to change if I feel like I can come up with something better. I literally have no idea where this burst of creativity and imagination has come from, but oh well, at least it means I can claim that I have gotten some work done this week. I'm super excited to work on all of them.
My notebook is now super full and I've had to get myself a new one due to all of the ideas my brain has decided to come up with lately. But at least all of these should keep me busy for at least a year so I don't have to worry about any stagnation like I was worried about when I had to put Immortal Bond on hold, leaving me with only Madness Within to work on. I like to have a bit of variety so I can work on a story depending on my mood and so things don't feel stale for me. I even came up with a few W.I.T.C.H one-shots which I haven't been able to do for years. It's been so long since I've written for any other fandom.
Oh yeah, and as always, chapter ten of Destiny's Dance has now been cleaned up and posted on FanFiction as well as AO3 which you can read by clicking here. Chapter 14 of Madness Within has also been cleaned on FanFiction and has been posted on AO3, so you can click here to read that too.
Don't forget that new episode reviews are still being posted every Monday, well, that is until I catch up with the last episode that was released. So you can expect to see my review for Backwarder being posted this coming Monday, and I'm super excited for that one. It has been one of my favourite episodes so far, and I really love reading any comments that you guys leave, letting me know your opinions as well. Because as you know, I love to debate and learn what other people think, so never be shy to talk to me.
Anyway, that's all I really have to talk about this week. Once this is posted, I'm probably going to collapse back in bed again. I almost feel faint after all the stress of this week. I think the universe was trying to see how close it could get to giving me a heart attack. At least that's how it felt anyway. I need some sweet sweet relaxation.
Pixie out.
Awww, honey. :( So sorry that your computers died on you. I've been there and it is NOT. FUN. To try to assist with the newest computer, have you tried OpenOffice? Is it still too different from Word?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you've had to endure so much stress this week! I'm glad your great-aunt is safe, but that must have been such a scare! o_0 I'm also glad that your boyfriend was able to sort of talk you off the ledge, as it were. My husband knows that feeling all too well, I'm sure. It does my heart good to know you found such a sweetheart. <3
Sorry your writing progress hasn't been as much as you would have liked, but you did persevere while most others would wave the white flag, and you did write SOMETHING. Two somethings, actually if you include the WITCH story. Three if you count editing Destiny's Dance, and four somethings if you include this blog post. That's.... a LOT of writing for someone who had to go through THREE computers before finding one that works.
So, bravo to you. I think you might be too hard on yourself (she says, fully knowing she's going to do the same exact thing in her own blog post tomorrow... >_> )
Yeah, it was a bit of a nightmare. No, I haven't tried that. If it's very similar to Word, then I might try it. It was so weird because you just think something like that can never happen to you or someone you know, so yeah, I'm super glad that we found her safe.
DeleteWhen you put it like that, that does make me feel a bit better. I beat myself up way too much when I don't meet my own personal goals. Hahaha, so now it's my turn to reassure you ;)
OpenOffice is an open source program that's designed to be a sort of open source of Word. I still have a netbook from like.... 2009 or something like that (wow... that thing is OLD!). It didn't come with Word, and it doesn't have a disc drive, so I tried out OpenOffice since it's a free download. I haven't looked back since, and even prefer it over Word on my actual laptop. They are interchangeable, but Word does have minor issues opening the .odt extension, but it easily converts it to .doc, and OpenOffice can open any Word document without issue (but if you use things like fancy Word-only formatting OpenOffice may have to ignore those bits).
DeleteAwesome sauce! Thank you so much for letting me know. I'll definitely have a look at it. Thank you thank you thank you!
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