Author Archives: Jack Lyon

Add-Ins from Microsoft

By Jack Lyon | Published: June 15, 2023

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium I’ve created lots of Microsoft Word add-ins at the Editorium, but did you know that Microsoft also provides add-ins, many of them free? Here’s how to explore and use these add-ins right from within Microsoft Word. In the search bar at the top of your Word window, enter “add-in.” You’ll […]

Posted in Add-ins, Editing Tools, Macros, Microsoft Word, Programs | Comments closed

Resetting Shakespeare

By Jack Lyon | Published: April 14, 2023

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium In late 2020, I discovered the down-to-the-character transcription of Shakespeare’s First Folio created by PlayShakespeare.com. I knew immediately what I had to do: Reset the type in a new edition of the book—something that’s never been done since the 1600s. With the encouragement and advice of Ron Severdia, founder and […]

Posted in Shakespeare, Typesetting | Comments closed

Edit First, Check Later

By Jack Lyon | Published: March 15, 2023

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium The world is awash with software designed to improve your writing, and this software can be particularly valuable to editors. Here are some of the current contenders: PerfectIt from IntelligentEditing Lingofy Scribendi ProWritingAid WordTune Hemingway WhiteSmoke Ginger Sapling SlickWrite LanguageTool SentenceCheckup Linguix AfterTheDeadline OnlineCorrection Antidote GrammarCheck But good grief, how […]

Posted in Computers and Software, Editing Tools | Comments closed

Getting a Bird’s-Eye View on Your Document

By Jack Lyon | Published: December 16, 2022

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium Back in the days of editing on paper, I would sometimes spread manuscript pages out on my desk to get a bird’s-eye view of the text I was working on. This could be useful for several reasons: To see if long stretches of text needed to be broken down into […]

Posted in Computers and Software, Editing, Editing Tools, Microsoft Word | Comments closed

Converting Fields to Regular Text (and Why That Matters)

By Jack Lyon | Published: December 9, 2022

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium Microsoft Word documents often include fields that authors use to insert text that isn’t really text: dates, page references, author names, and much more. If you’re editing a document that includes text copied and pasted from a web page (quite frequent these days), the text probably includes hyperlink fields, perhaps […]

Posted in Editing, Editorial Matters, Macros, Microsoft Word | Comments closed

Mucho Macros

By Jack Lyon | Published: December 2, 2022

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium You’re probably already familiar with Paul Beverley’s editing macros, but there are plenty of other places to find Microsoft Word macros that you might find useful. Here are some of the best: Allen Wyatt’s macros, with clear explanations of how they work. Be sure to sign up for his free […]

Posted in Macros | Comments closed

Getting Help with Macros

By Jack Lyon | Published: November 18, 2022

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium While messing about with macros, I sometimes find myself up against a problem for which I have no solution. Time to get some help! My usual approach is to use Google to search for "microsoft word vba [whatever problem I’m having]". That turns up lots of interesting stuff, but the […]

Posted in Macros | Comments closed

How to Add a Macro to Word and Its QAT (Quick Access Toolbar)

By Jack Lyon | Published: November 17, 2022

Microsoft Word’s macro features make it possible to turn Word into a lean, mean editing machine. You’ll find lots of free editing macros online (see below for some excellent sources). But how can you add a macro to Microsoft Word so it will be available when you need it? Here’s the procedure: Copy the text […]

Posted in Customization, Macros, Microsoft Word | Comments closed

Writing Down the Chaos

By Jack Lyon | Published: November 11, 2022

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium You can’t do much carpentry with your bare hands, and you can’t do much thinking with your bare brain. —Bo Dahlbom High school English class. Freshman year. The teacher explained how to: Come up with a thesis statement. Create an outline of arguments supporting the thesis statement. Write a paper […]

Posted in Programs, Writing | Comments closed

Listing Keyboard Shortcuts: Two Methods

By Jack Lyon | Published: November 3, 2022

By Jack Lyon, the Editorium As useful as custom keyboard shortcuts may be in using Microsoft Word, it’s sometimes difficult to remember which keys you’ve assigned to what function. Word itself includes one way to find out: Click File > Print. Under "Settings," select "Key Assignments: List of your custom shortcut keys": Select the printer […]

Posted in Editing Tools, Lyonizing Word, Macros | Comments closed