What word processor do you use to write with?

I hope everyone who visits my blog today has a wonderful July 4th. Along with it being "America's Birthday," it is also time to do the July 2024 installment of the Insecure Writer's Support Group (sign up for it at this LINK). This blogfest was started a long time ago by author Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you have never checked out his books, you should.

So, what is the Insecure Writer's Support Group anyway? Allow me to explain.

What is the purpose?: It is to share and encourage. Writers participating in the IWSG can express their doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s meant to be a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds.

When do we post?: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. On this day, you should write your thoughts on your own blog. Some examples of what to write might involve talking about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. You could also discuss your struggles and your triumphs. Another idea is to offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling.

Along with your post, you should try to visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writers. A good rule of thumb might be to aim for a dozen new people each time. When you return comments, you will find that you gather followers and connect. So, prior to that, you will want to make sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. These are the digital breadcrumbs you will leave behind that make certain others can find you in the huge ocean that is the internet.

The X handle for the Insecure Writer's Support Group is @TheIWSG and the hashtag everyone uses is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG are JS Pailly, Rebecca Douglass, Pat Garcia, Louise-Fundy Blue, and Natalie Aguirre!

Now, every month, the IWSG announces a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story. If it does, you could totally use this as your post. But you should remember that the question is optional.

July 3rd question: What are your favorite writing processing (e.g. Word, Scrivener, yWriter, Dabble), writing apps, software, and tools? Why do you recommend them? And which one is your all-time favorite that you cannot live without and use daily or at least whenever you write?

For me, it is Microsoft Word. I think it is an indispensable tool now, and I know how to format everything. I make it so that my spacing between lines is automatic, that the indent is automatic (I don't press the "tab" button anymore), and it has some fantastic a.i. driven spell check as well as "document review" editing options. I never use a.i. to write. However, I would be a fool if I didn't use its power to read my document and look for errors. It does this literally for free. I'm old enough to remember when people needed to hire editors to look through their stuff. This new way is incredibly good, and I think it is better than trying to find someone who will take the time to go through hundreds of pages of material looking for errors. It's also extremely easy to format things for online publishing, like Kindle or Lulu. The only downside to Microsoft 365 is that it requires a subscription now. But I've installed some copies of it on computers owned by friends, and they've paid me a modest sum, so the cost is relatively modest.

Thanks for visiting, and may all of you find the word/writing processors that suit your style.

 

House of the Dragon season 2 is off to a strong start.

House of the Dragon is so damned good. Now that I've stopped nitpicking things as much as I did when I was younger, I can fully appreciate just how far we've come in our entertainment options to actually have a fantasy series that looks as incredible as House of the Dragon. I mean...it looks better than movies with $200 million dollar budgets looked back around year 2000. And we get this weekly until season 2 ends for the price of a subscription to Max.

I've only seen two episodes in season 2 thus far, but both of them just hit the ground running. The first episode fed right into an assassination plot that was as gruesome as Game of Thrones could plaster on screen, and then this went into another assassination plot. Out of all of the new and returning characters, I think I dislike Otto Hightower the most. The civil war in House of the Dragon is entirely his own making because he assumes that the Realm won't accept a female heir to the throne. In my opinion, Rhaenyra would definitely have experienced a ton of sexism and low-level resistance to her rule, but that would have passed with time and reminders of the power of dragons.

Otto's weakness (which I will go into in just a minute) is also why I kind of despise him as a character. He's a fantastic political mind, but it's cold and calculating. When it came to his own daughter, he just pimped her out to the king so that she would be queen. However, the king was a decidedly gross individual and House of the Dragon never failed to remind us of how gross he was. 

Otto always fails to understand the people who are close to him. Examples are ignoring the fact that Aegon is completely unsuited to rule. Another example happens after the assassination (done by Blood and Cheese) of Aegon's heir happens in the castle. Otto decides that displaying the dead body through town would garner a lot of sympathy, even though the two women he commands to ride on the wagon behind the funeral procession don't want to do it.

Anyway, the season is off to a strong start. Anyone else care to weigh in?