Infinite Ink

The lows of being part of the word processing generation

Don't take your word processor for granted. One day it might bail on you, and then you'll appreciate it for what it truly was.

Yes, I'm talking about MS Word. The spelling and grammar check is a joke, but at least it's functional. It shows your word count as you type! Don't give me that look. Automatic word count is very useful. Imagine having to launch a tool to count the number of words every time you want to check it. I actually have to do that because I don't have MS Word.

Yes, you read that correctly! I don't have a Windows laptop, actually. I have a Chromebook. It's a Google Chrome operating system. Yup, Google Chrome is not just a browser, and somebody explain that to the helpline telephone operator for my wifi connection back in desi land.

On a Chromebook, you edit documents online. You can technically edit them offline as well, but it's a big pain in the neck if you try to do that. If your wifi connection is slow, then your document automatic saving is slow too.

Still, Google docs is better than MSWord Online. MSWord Online served me well for many months, but then it started to play skip rope with me. By that I mean while I'm typing, the cursor suddenly jumps a whole paragraph back and there goes my whole carefully crafted paragraph out the window. (Yes, words don't flow like water out of a tap. You have to squeeze to get them out.) That meant goodbye MSWord Online and hello Google docs!

I'm back to writing without an automatic word count. Sigh. That's life. How do you compose your Wattpad chapters? I'd like to know, I might pick up some tips. Next chapter, I'll have some tips for you! (Not about Wattpad chapters, though.)