A Wandering Child

“Please take me by the hand and guide me through it. I am just a small kid that starts to learn so we have to go step by step”. That is exactly what I told my friend a few months ago when we were trying to upload my manuscript to be published. Back in 2004, I got my first (second hand) computer from a friend. Sure, soon enough I knew how to browse the net, send emails and read the news. But even the simplest terms got me puzzled then. “Can you tell me what a browser is pleased?” And “What on earth is a URL? There should be some explanation. I was raised with an abacus”.

Bit by bit (and at a very low pace!) I learned more and more. But last year I was really lost when it came time to upload my book. True, all the questions that one could possibly have can be solved on the net itself. But that is a big problem for me. Today, for instance, I was looking at how to get my Twitter account up to date. I found a blog and what a joy, it was written in Dutch. I tried to follow their suggestions only to end up frustrated. Nothing they mentioned I could find. I went to the “about us” page and figured it would be best to send one of the guys a tweet. The answer came: We haven’t been updating for a long time. There you go! Now I asked a friend on FaceBook and she gave me the answer. The site was obviously outdated. Not a huge problem of course but frustrating for a nitwit like me. 

A few days ago I started an online course called “7-day challenge”. It is meant to expose your blogs to a bigger audience. The first day-task was a nice one. A program where you can do several things with your pictures. And unlike photoshop it is user-friendly for beginners. Step by step they guide you through the process. The good thing for me is that they use very short films to show exactly what you need to do. Needless to say that I played around on that site for quite some time. Here’s how I changed the cover photo on my FaceBook. It might not be perfect but the fact that I could use 2 different pictures and add a text was already enough for me for the moment.

 

One of my first 'try outs'

Also I started another blog, all about my book and the book I am working on right now. For that blog I needed to make it look good. But how? I had no clue at all. Then I thought “Oh what the heck! I can try and try. If it doesn’t look good I can always change it”. That sure is the good thing about computers. So here I am, a small child, exploring the world that is called internet.

Love the ones you’re with and be loved in return.