Paste Special*
Shift+Ctrl+V is a Godsend
I’ve been writing daily for a while now, and I’ve amassed quite a catalog of essays and short stories. And I’ve already published my first book under my pen name. But MJ Polk has yet to put anything in print. So I’ve decided to focus my attention for the time being on the production of two books: One will be a collection of Essays, and the other a collection of Short Stories.
I’ll also be co-publishing a Southern Writers Guild Anthology, with Grace, Rick, and Hank. I expect it to hit shelves in August!
And that brings me to my point — Paste Special — Shift+Ctrl+V. Did you know about that?
A friend and I were talking recently and she said to me, “I don’t know how you know that,” when referring to something on Substack.
Then we got all off on a conversation about knowing things. And how you can’t know stuff until you know stuff. And how that’s what life is — just doing stuff. And how that is why you have to just do it. Don’t talk about it. Do it.
Seneca said, “The fool is always getting ready to live.”
I’ve always had a knack for getting by. I don’t typically finish first. I’m not usually awarded with a superior performance. But I am generally able to get whatever I set out to do, done — sometimes remarkably. It’s one of my greatest strengths!
But it’s also frustrating to feel as if one’s always teetering on the edge. It’s exhausting, frankly. Part of the reason that I’ve put this off already is the fact that I’d gotten in the habit of editing my final drafts on the Substack draft. Which means that all of my backup/original Google Doc copies would need editing before they could be published… Dun Dun Dunnnn.
So while we’re working on the SWG Anthology together I notice something — after I’d spent the better part of an hour editing Topeka or Bust to be added. Same issue right? I’d made edits within the Substack draft, so the Google Doc version needed to be updated. But when I got into our Shared Folder, Rick already had an updated copy of Topeka or Bust there. 🤔 What the?
Marcus Aurelius said, “How long am I going to talk about being good?
Now you’d think I’d ask him right away about it right? I’m not one that’s afraid to ask questions.
Nope. Instead I stewed on it for, Idk, days probably? Which only served to delay the process even longer. Why I chose to feel like an idiot for days versus just asking him, I have no idea. But finally, when I’d reached a point where I’d exhausted every other option, I did.
“Rick, how did you get all of those stories transferred over to our folder? Like I mean, the correct final drafts from Substack?”
Then I explained how I’d been struggling with getting all of my copies edited. Grace was actually the one that answered first, “copy + paste special.” We share a group message. It’s mostly where all our Porch Stories originate.
Thanks to this new knowledge, I am now well on my way to publishing My first two books! Seriously, you wouldn’t believe how many steps that saves me. It literally has made three books possible.
So going forward I am also going to try to give myself more grace, when I don’t know things. I can’t know everything. I am going to struggle at times, and that’s okay. That’s how you learn. That’s how you grow.
There’s an old saying: It’s not a mistake until you make it twice.
So I’ll keep walking the line. I’ll ask questions. And if I make a mistake, I’ll correct it and keep on moving forward. Small steps baby!
Polk Knoll — A Collection of Short Stories, is available for purchase on Amazon Now!
Polk Knoll — A Collection of Short Stories, is a compilation of the first stories I’ve published. The name, Polk Knoll, comes from a hand burned wooden plaque that hung above the bookshelf in my grandparent’s den — a plaque that proudly announced my Papa’s claim on his little hill.
Knoll is defined as a small, low, natural hill or mound of earth.
I primarily write Auto-Fiction, but you’ll find a variety of styles in the pages of this book. And though this is but one of a number of books I’ll publish this year, this collection of stories is very special to me. It’s hard to explain the feeling of pressing the publish button for the first time — it’s exciting, and scary to put your work out there for others to read!
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I’ve been getting quite philosophical over on the Jukebox the last few weeks.
It's funny, but I have been using computers since they were invented for business use. On my Mac, the three commands I use daily are Command A (highlight everything), Command C (copy everything, and Command V - paste everything. So, highlight, copy, paste. Once you know the command for your computer - you're off to the races. You can also save your Substack posts as CSV files which means you can download them. That will make life easier in editing mode.