I’ve been writing, well, since c. 1984 if we’re talking pencil and paper, but since 1990 or ’91 regularly. I was a 13-year-old who got a no-kidding stand-alone Brother word processor as a birthday present. Like, a computer that only made text files. Not really for writing schoolwork. For writing fiction, since I’d spent the previous couple of years scribbling in notebooks endlessly. However ornery I may be about my upbringing in some aspects, that was a boss move from my parents.

So it took me until 20omg19 to finally try putting a draft on The Cloud(tm). Not really because of paranoia, because a hacker may as well hack somebody who makes more than coffee money out of writing. I just felt like I had to get my money’s worth out of Scrivener. And I do quite like that program, don’t get me wrong. Still, shifting 70+ files back and forth between PC and laptop every time I want to switch my seat led me to just not work on anything at all. Enter… The Cloud(tm).

I can work on the draft from my desktop! And my laptop! AND MY PHONE! I quickly found that I cannot thumb-type more than a couple of paragraphs without getting frustrated. However, you know what I can do from my phone? Line edits. Correcting word choice. Skimming through to fix continuity. Making notes about what I want to do next. Wheeeeeee. (All that stuff that I spent years doing with Book 1, so yeah, moderation in all things.)

So when I say “hey I’m actually working on the draft I swear,” I am actually working on the draft, I swear.

Or playing Pokemon Go. I’m not made of stone.