“IMG-1001.jpg” has failed to upload due to an error Unable to create directory u

Hi I have just updated to version 3.8 and I went to upload images through my usual way through Faster Image Insert and I get the following message now:
“IMG-1001.jpg” has failed to upload due to an error
Unable to create directory uploads. Is its parent directory writable by the server?

There are a number of forum topics, but I’ve changed nothing but upgraded WP versions. All the forum results have too much jargon I don’t understand. Can someone explain in simple terms on how to fix this? I can’t blog anymore!