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| Back in the day, I used to use something like this. |
I remember when I was a wee lad and I used a typewriter. I thought it was so great to be able to type things--seemed to make it so official. I even had a typewriter that could correct an error using a white-out key (yeah, that was pretty big-time!). Then I upgraded to the newfangled word processor that had this little window above the keyboard that would show the text before it was set on paper (seemed so super-advanced at the time).
Then computers popped up and things advanced even more...and then WHAM!, in 1995 Microsoft Word (Works actually came out first) came along and everything changed. In fact, the amount of unique features on Word that help writers with the revision process can't be discussed in a single blog post. Heck, I consider myself an expert with Word and even I seem to learn something new now and then when using Word.
So, then, I'll just discuss a couple features I use a lot. First, the find/replace feature. All writers know about these beauties, and if they don't, these are probably the writers who are still using typewriters. How helpful is it to be able to see the frequency with which you use "just" or "I mean" by using these features? And how cool is it that you can decide to change a character's name toward the end of your first draft and use the find/replace feature to do it in one quick minute. Second, I really love the track-changes that help when writers revise with crit partners or agents or editors. Invaluable.
How about you? What Microsoft Word features do you like to use here in the year 17 A.W.?
Thank goodness for spellcheck too!
ReplyDeleteSo true! I use both of those features often. I also like the "Document Map" feature under View, so that I can easily find a chapter heading I want to go to.
ReplyDeleteI remember writing about a half a novel in Word Perfect when I was like 13. It would have been around 1990-1 or so. Track Changes and the comments that come with it has to be the best feature. I have no idea how critiquing was handled before this.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I don't know if I've ever seen a true word processor before!
ReplyDeleteYes, the find/replace feature is great! I do use some of the grammar features as well. I'm notorious for thinking of one word (such as there) but writing another (such as their). The grammar check has helped alleviate some of my lame typos! ;) Great post, Michael! Where would we be without word?
ReplyDeleteAh, Word Perfect! Thanks, Matt, for that blast of nostalgia.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Mike. I just last week changed the name of one of my characters at one stroke. Easy peasy thanks to find/replace. Now I just need to train my brain about the change.
I really like the track changes feature.
ReplyDeleteFind and replace is wonderful and spell check is a useful tool. Unfortunately, though, I find some of my students over-rely on spell/grammar check. Some students see those wiggly lines and then accept the first suggested solution for everything without reading their work to see if it really fits in the context. It can make for some bizarre papers, and sadly indicates that these students are not doing any kind of real revision because either they don't care or because their reading comprehension in English or their grasp of standard grammar is so low.
ReplyDeleteConnie, I think the grammar check can be useful for simple mistakes, but I agree, a lot of the "issues" it brings up have no bearing on the actual text. I cannot imagine some of the papers you get! ;)
DeleteConnie, I have encountered the same issue. I usually do a little lesson on the pitfalls of using the spell/grammar check, and it helps some, but not all, of my students to see that they can make their paper worse if they are not actively engaged in the writing process.
DeleteI really love the ability to cut and move large blocks of text.
ReplyDeleteWe had one of those fancy electric typewriters that had its own special white-out key, too! My mom used to make us type 2 pages and then she'd do the rest. She couldn't stand listening to us try and type.
ReplyDeletePeck.
(silence)
Peck peck.
(silence)
Dang it!
(tell-tale delete noise)
Peck.
Oh, I had one of those word processors! My husband told me that he'd buy me one when I sold my first story. I think he was betting that he wouldn't have to shell out for one. But I made my first sale early on. I loved that thing back in the day. But now I'm eternally grateful for the cut and paste features.
ReplyDeleteYou guys were all rich kids, huh? I used notebooks to write my early works. And sometimes we couldn't afford those, so I'd tie scrap paper together with bread ties. No, seriously. Times were hard in the ghetto neighborhoods of Bayberry in Liverpool, NY.
ReplyDeleteI didn't start actually typing stuff I wrote until, I don't know 98-99?
Wait, that's a lie. I remember trying to write a retelling of the Frog Prince on whatever word processor my dad had on his work computer (computer programmer). It had a wizard named Potter (no, really). This was 1992. But that was it.
Find and replace is great, but you have to be careful with it and read through everything afterword. Some people allow those cool functions to do their work for them and get lazy.
ReplyDeleteI once reviewed a self-published book (already gone to print and everything) where the author had obviously changed a character named MATT into MAX. The problem was she'd done a "Replace all" thing -- and every single word that had MATT in it was affected. "What the maxer, honey?" "It didn't maxer one way or another." I gently pointed out in my review that there were major editing errors -- and the author got ticked off at me.
But come on. That was a pretty grievous error. It pervaded the whole book.