Sweet... Sweet relief!

[favourik]

Hello fellow community members!

So I delivered a finished work a while ago and believe me, I have never felt this relieved since I saw a B in my O Levels. This is not the first time I'm completing a project (obviously) but the story behind it makes it a lot different and yes, I'm going to tell that story. 

On the 16th of July I got a message from a buyer. They are not new on Fiverr but this is the first time they're purchasing a Ghostwriting gig so I guess they just didn't know what to expect. We get to talking and discussing ideas and I realize they don't have a solid plan in mind so I'm like "Do you need time to go think about it or would you like to order an outline gig?". They refuse and return a few hours later with a whole mess of ideas and I had to put my phone away for a while and stretch my limbs.

I just skimmed through it and sent back a quick summary so I could be sure me and the buyer were on the same page. They loved it and immediately ordered and I had to spend the first night outlining the entire thing. The thing is, I cannot work without an outline and seeing those odd details here and there creeps me out a bit and along the line, the writer's block is inevitable. Okay, back to the story!

The next day, I got a dreadful message from Fiverr saying I had 14 days to verify my identity. At first, I was like 'okay', I had lost my National Identity Card a week ago and already applied for another and it would take a few days for it to be delivered, no problem right? Wrong! About two days letter, I got an email from my LGA asking me to come to the office because my ID number had not be validated (validation as in, good on paper but null on the database). So by now, I'm a bit nervous. The days are counting down and for some bizarre reason, I have a good amount of orders on queue that I have to finish and most of them are ongoing projects. Thankfully, the buyer was understanding enough and asked me to extend the time when I explained my situation to them.

I go back and forth from my State office to Road Safety (I applied for a drivers license too so I had to make regular visits to monitor the process since I did not go to a conventional driving school) while trying to deliver quality work as usual. I finally get the new ID card and my license is still no where to be found and I only had about three days when I verified my identity.

I had not even turned away from my computer when I got a 'verification declined' message and I'm like wait, what? As expected, I try again. Same result.

I had to call the office to ask if there was something wrong with the card and the manager assured me all was right so yeah, I tried for the third time. It took a while before I get feedback but when I did, it was a bit read 'Account has been temporally deactivated...'. My soul is crushed by now and I just crawled into my bed and sent a message to CS. Surprisingly, I got a response an hour later and the kind lady says they have given another attempt and I could try to verify it again. 

I set my ring light right in front of my window to try to brighten the already setting sun, posed for my selfie and took the most steady picture I've ever taken of my ID card. I did not get a reply until the next day and when I did, I almost cried (I really could not imagine losing the account. I had managed to get a bit of credibility with some extra benefits like the Fiverr choice badge and early payout so it was pretty cool!).

Well, I immediately got back to work and sent an update to the buyer while I continued writing orders. She took a while to answer and I had about five days left so I asked for another extension. The next day, I tested for Covid (I'm doing pretty well right now tho!) I don't get to work for another few days and the buyer is still as patient as always so I ask for another extension. Mind you, the project was just 15000 words and I may be a slow typist but I am not THAT slow!

I finally delivered today with a few hours to spare because I spent a whole day editing the mess I had written during my chaotic month and I was typing this when I got a message from her. She loves it!

Have you had a tough order that made you crack open a cold one when you delivered it? I'm all ears... well, eyes!

[designboom]

Happy ending 🙂 I am glad to read everything worked out for you and you still got your accout. Wish you all the best with your Fiverr business🙂

[katakatica]

9 hours ago, favourik said:

Have you had a tough order that made you crack open a cold one when you delivered it? I'm all ears... well, eyes!

So, even now, I have a very (unfortunate) trait of sometimes not following my own rules. I offer one revision, not a full rewrite (just tweaks) and anything over that (especially if the buyer comes up with new information as I'm writing...) would be charged extra.

Now that is... in theory.

Lately, I've had a couple of buyers who changed their mind after approving the intiial concept several times (which is... not fun.) I set my foot down with them finally, but still have to write a lot of extra as damage control.

The past month was rough - we bought got COVID with my partner, and THEN I got even sicker than before (not COVID, lasted less, but I could barely stay upright because I was coughing so heavily!) Living abroad has been a bit frustrating as well while my family at home are moving, but going home right now would be a huge waste of time/money. Keeping up work with all this stuff hasn't been simple, so I can relate to just wanting to be done with work and have some rest for sure!

I'm honestly curious (you don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable) what do you mean when you say you're a slow typist? I've never really compared myself with others, so I've been wondering if I'm a snail - or perhaps a tiger 😛 

[favourik]

12 hours ago, katakatica said:

I'm honestly curious (you don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable) what do you mean when you say you're a slow typist? I've never really compared myself with others, so I've been wondering if I'm a snail - or perhaps a tiger

Oh I don't mind answering.😅 I have a friend that helps me out with jobs outside fiverr and he could finish a story with about 5000 words in like two days and I would need about a week. Compared to him, I don't think I'm that fast as I could do a thousand words in a hour or two and I don't really have the luxury of spending more than three hours a day on work (I start around 11 pm and finish by 2/3. Other activities keep me busy during the day.😭).

And during those three hours, I take wayyyy to many breaks. So I guess I need some discipline when I work and I also need to work on time management.😅