“I know enough to get around,” they say.
I’m here to challenge that “good enough” point of view. After all, if you were to hire a carpenter to build a cabinet, wouldn’t you expect that carpenter to have command over his tools? Would you be satisfied with a carpenter who only knew how to make rough cuts, and didn’t know how to miter corners or plane a smooth surface on the wood? A carpenter who only knew how to “get around” his tools? Probably not. And though writers work hard at having command over the primary tools of their trade — words, grammar, syntax, and punctuation — we don’t work at knowing how to use our word processor’s features. For most of us, that word processor is Microsoft Word.
So why are so many of us content with using Word to make “rough cuts”? There are probably as many reasons as there are people, but over the years I’ve observed these common ones: a lot of writers learned to type during the era of typewriters and view Word as a typewriter replacement, to type and print; some have never felt comfortable with the computer or with technology in general; many are intimidated by all Word’s features and menus and tabs; and many are simply unaware that they could revise so much faster and easier if they only knew how, never imagining how much power there is in an application like Word.
Do any of these reasons resonate for you? Do you think that “good enough” is good enough?
Imagine . . .
- reducing the time that you spend fussing with formatting by at least half.
- being in control of document versions.
- changing all of the paragraph or title formatting throughout an entire document in one fell swoop, without highlighting any text or accessing menu after menu.
- creating an accurate table of contents in just moments that will change dynamically when you make changes to your document.
- having complete control over headers and footers, page numbering, and all spacing throughout your document.
- being comfortable using all the Review tools (comments, track changes, etc.) when working with an editor.
- knowing how to insert, resize, and reformat pictures, tables, and shapes.
- confidently changing a character’s name (or finding and replacing any other text) throughout an entire document without having to page through it to “see if it worked.”
- saving your document as a PDF, with an active, linkable table of contents.
Finally, imagine being able to do all of that without breaking a sweat.
I’d like to help you do just that. And that’s why, over the next few months, I’ll be publishing this series of articles on “Word for Writers,” of which this post is the first.
Already a Word power user? Stay tuned, because you may find a neat trick here and there that you didn’t know about before.
And for all my readers, don’t worry — I will continue to publish articles filled with journaling prompts and techniques, as well as memoir and legacy writing craft, and the writer’s life. After all, writing is my first love. Word is just a tool.
Photo Credit: roseannadana via Compfight cc
Amber, you are an angel! Thank you.
Bravo, bravo! I join you in urging people to master Word. IMO, Styles give you the keys to the publishing universe. The concept is simple. Please, please dear readers, when Amber explains this simple concept, pay heed. Try it. You’ll like it. You’ll sprout wings and fly.
Instead of fearing that you’ll wreck your document, save a copy and work on another. Then think of what you are doing as PLAY. It’s an adventure. It’s FUN!
Thank you, Louise and Sharon, for encouraging everyone to play and learn. 🙂
At the beginning of your post I thought, ho-hum, I KNOW my toolbox. Oops…I read on and it sounds as if I’m in for a great treat. Eager to learn more and better ways to produce professional work. I love learning from you.
Thank you, Liz.
Sometimes I just get stuck in my comfort zone with Word…I say to myself, “Oh, I don’t want to sacrifice my creative writing time for learning the mundane tasks in Word.” So, perhaps I’m guilty as charged! 🙂
LOL, Sara. I know exactly what you mean. I have found, though, that the time spent learning a feature — even a simple keyboard command — can often save way more time than it took to learn it. A good investment for increasing creative time.
I’ve had an on-a-need-to-know basis for my Word knowledge, Amber. Have dabbled in Scrivener, but don’t yet feel fluent enough to trust my work in there. I’ll look forward to learning more of what I don’t know…and that’s vast, I’m sure.
Working on it. Still have fears but overcoming them. Thank you, Amber.
I am really looking forward to this Amber! I have very uneven knowledge about Word, having mostly learned it on a what-need-to-know-right-now basis. Hoping to fill in the gaps that I may not even know I have 🙂
Patsy, Betsy, and Jude – We all have things to learn, when it comes to Word. My goal is to demystify some of Word’s most useful features for writers, make the program easier to use, and help you achieve more productivity and efficiency.
Great post, Amber! I learned a long time ago there’s always something new to learn in this fast-paced, ever-changing technological world. I use Scrivener and Word and am happy to have someone point out quicker ways of doing things. I applaud your efforts to bring this information to us, and I look forward to your posts.
Can’t wait for these lessons! These are all things I have wanted to know for years:-)
Keep the tips coming!