Jack Lyon

The Law of Least Surprise

I wear many hats, but two of my favorites are my editing hat (really just a green-celluloid visor that protects my eyes from the glare of the lightbulb dangling overhead) and my programming hat (a rakish fedora with a feather on the side). I alternate between the two on any given day, but there's one guiding principle that both hats share—the law of least surprise.

The law of least surprise was formulated by computer nerds who wisely realized that "a programmer should try to think of the behavior that will least surprise someone who uses the program, rather than the behavior that is natural from knowing the inner workings of the program." For example, if I'm writing a document in a word processor, and I type "3rd" (meaning "third"), the "rd" should not magically be formatted as superscript. But that's the default setting in Microsoft Word, which frequently violates the law of least surprise, often in very big ways.

One of the most egregious violations occurred with the introduction of the Document Map in Word 97. The feature didn't work unless heading styles were applied to headings in the document text. If it couldn't find any headings, it created them, automatically formatting short lines that looked as though they might be headings.

Another bad one was the universally hated "Clippy," the animated paperclip also introduced in Word 97. (Is there a pattern here?) Clippy would pop up at the most inopportune times, "helpfully" saying things like "It looks as though you're writing a grocery list. Do you need milk?" In 2007 Smithsonian magazine called Clippy "one of the worst software design blunders in the annals of computing." In 2010 Time magazine listed it as one of the 50 worst inventions. Even at Microsoft, Clippy's internal code name was "TFC," which did not stand for "that friendly clip." Nevertheless, I enjoy some of the creative spoofs that Clippy inspired.

The law of least surprise isn't just for programmers, though. It also applies to editors, who should change an author's text as little as possible while still ensuring clarity (and, in some situations, conformity to house style). I've had bad experiences with inept but well-meaning proofreaders who made changes because something I wrote didn't follow the "rules" or because they had a "better" way to express something than I did, even though my way was perfectly clear. This reminds me of a story about Abraham Lincoln:

A Cabinet meeting was called to consider [the United States'] relations with England. . . . One after another of the Cabinet presented his views, and Mr. Seward read an elaborate diplomatic dispatch, which he had prepared.
Finally Mr. Lincoln read what he termed "a few brief remarks upon the subject,'' and asked the opinions of his auditors. They unanimously agreed that our side of the question needed no more argument than was contained in the President's "few brief remarks.''
Mr. Seward said he would be glad to adopt the remarks, and, giving them more of the phraseology usual in diplomatic circles, send them to Lord Palmerston, the British premier.
. . . The President, half wheeling in his seat, threw one leg over the chair-arm, and, holding the letter in his hand, said, "Seward, do you suppose Palmerston will understand our position from that letter, just as it is?"
"Certainly, Mr. President."
"Do you suppose the London Times will?"
"Certainly."
"Do you suppose the average Englishman of affairs will?"
"Certainly; it cannot be mistaken in England."
"Do you suppose that a hackman out on his box (pointing to the street) will understand it?"
"Very readily, Mr. President."
"Very well, Seward, I guess we'll let her slide just as she is."
And the letter did "slide," and settled the whole business in a manner that was effective. (Alexander K. McClure, Yarns and Stories of Abraham Lincoln [Salt Lake City: Waking Lion Press, 2013], 160-61.)

When editors make changes not to ensure clarity but to meet some arbitrary aspect of their own sensibilities, they're doing it wrong. As an editor, I try to keep that in mind. And as an author, I don't like surprises.

New Programs from the Editorium

Wearing my programmer's hat, I've been working hard all summer to create some new Microsoft Word add-ins to help with your work:

IndexLinker creates hyperlinks from index page numbers back to the text to which they refer. If you're creating ebooks or PDFs with indexes, you need this program.

BookMaker automates typesetting and page layout in Microsoft Word. Stop fighting with page breaks, headers, and footers. Let BookMaker do the heavy lifting.

LyXConverter converts Word documents into LyX documents.

A Special Deal: Editor's Toolkit Ultimate!

Editor's ToolKit Ultimate combines three great products:

The three products work together to create a powerful editing package to take you through three separate stages of copyediting.

Editing Documents in LaTeX

Do you ever have to edit a document written in LaTeX? There’s recently been some discussion on Copyediting-L about how to do this. I know of three methods.

Method 1: Work in raw LaTeX

LaTeX looks like this:

chapter[On the Origin and Design of Government]{On the Origin and Design of Government in General, with Concise
 Remarks on the English Constitution}
 Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave
 little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only
 different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our
 wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our
 happiness emph{positively} by uniting our affections, the latter
 emph{negatively} by restraining our vices. The one encourages
 intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the
 last a punisher.

As you can see, formatting and document structure are implemented with codes. That's okay; just don't mess with the codes unless you know what you're doing. You can open a LaTeX document in any text editor and start editing. When you're finished, save the file and return it to the authors.

But what if your authors need to see your revisions? In that case, a text editor isn't going to work. But Microsoft Word has revision tracking . . .

Method 2: Edit in Microsoft Word

There are ways to turn a LaTeX file into a Word document, but that's probably not what your authors want. Nevertheless, you can still edit in Word, using revision tracking. Here's how:

  1. Open the LaTeX file (extension .tex) in Word.
  2. Save the file as a Word file (extension .doc or .docx).
  3. Turn on Track Changes.
  4. Edit the text, being careful not to change any of the LaTeX coding.
  5. Don't use any of Word's formatting features (paragraph styles, italic, bold, and so on), which will be lost when the document is changed back to a text file (which, later, it will be).
  6. Save the Word file and send it back to your authors, who should review the file in Word so they can accept or reject your changes.

After all of the changes have been either (1) accepted or (2) rejected (in other words, so that all tracked changes have been taken care of), the authors should do this:

  1. Save the file as a text file (extension .txt).
  2. Change the .txt extension to .tex.

At that point, they should be able to compile the LaTeX file as usual.

Method 3: Edit in LyX

LyX is a graphical user interface for LaTeX, with its own version of revision tracking. Here's the procedure:

  1. You (the editor) install LyX. Unless you're planning to use LyX for typesetting, you just need the simple installer rather than the bundled version.
  2. Import the authors' LaTeX file into LyX (File > Import > LaTeX).
  3. Do your editing in LyX, using its revision-tracking feature (Document > Change Tracking > Track Changes).
  4. Ask your authors to review your changes in LyX and accept or reject as needed.

At that point, your authors can (1) export the file as LaTeX (File > Export > LaTeX) or (2) process the file from within LyX. If you want to use this method, you should do some back-and-forth testing with your authors before starting work on an actual manuscript.

If you find that you like working in LyX (I do), you may sometimes need a way to convert a Word document into a LyX document, which is not an easy task—unless you use my new Microsoft Word add-in, LyXConverter. I do not, however, recommend trying to round-trip a document—that is, convert a Word document into LyX and then back into Word. Again, there are ways to do it (via OpenOffice.org Writer), but how reliable the final conversion might be is open to question.

How about you? Do you get manuscripts in formats other than Word? If so, how do you handle them? Please let me know!

The Little Man Who Wasn’t There

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there.
He wasn’t there again today;
Oh, how I wish he’d go away!
—Hughes Mearns
 

In a post on his blog “An American Editor,” Rich Adin posits that eBooks may be sounding the death knell for authorial greatness:

http://americaneditor.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/are-ebooks-the-death-knell-of-authorial-greatness/

Why? Because unlike printed books sitting on a shelf, eBooks are not immediately visible to our view; we have to go find them on our eReader, or search for them online. “Out of sight, out of mind,” as the saying goes.

I won’t repeat Rich’s arguments here; you should go read them for yourself. But I do believe that Rich is onto something important, and his post made me think about other things that are becoming invisible in this modern age.

Note References

A recent trend in book publishing is the use of “blind” notes—that is, notes that exist in the back of a book but have no indication in the text that they exist. The only way to see if a particular passage has an associated note is to turn to the back of the book and check. “Fascinating paragraph,” you think. “I wonder if there’s a note about this.” You turn back to the notes and look. “Nope.”

What if your cell phone worked that way? Suppose your phone gave no indication—no ringtone, no flashing light—that a call was coming in. The only way to know would be to pick up your phone periodically and listen. Does that seem like a good system?

Is an author’s text really so elegant that it should not be besmirched with superscript note references? Give readers a break; if there’s a note, give them some indication.

Well-Written Indexes

Professional indexers and seasoned readers know that a good index is an essential part of a good nonfiction book. Not only does it allow you to find particular passages, but it also gives you an overview of a book’s contents. Does the latest tome on Microsoft Word have anything new to say about macros? Check the index.

But some authors and publishers think that an index can be generated by a computer—just feed the computer a list of important terms, and it will mark those terms as index entries in the text. Generate the index, and off  you go! (Microsoft Word actually includes a feature that will do this; I don’t recommend it.)

Similarly, those who publish in electronic form often think that a program’s “search” feature is all that’s needed for readers to find what they’re looking for. But consider the old saying “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” It refers to motherhood, of course, but if you look for “motherhood” in a computer-generated index or with an electronic search, “The hand that rocks the cradle” won’t show up. A good index is a form of writing; it requires the application of a human mind, which can see meanings where a computer sees only words. (This, by the way, is why grammar checkers don’t work.)

Functional User Interfaces

Some web designers think that how a web page looks is much more important than how it works. They’re wrong about that. Imagine a web page so “artfully” done, so minimal in its design, that it offers no indication of how users should navigate the site. You would actually have to move your cursor around the screen to see what areas might be “clickable.” That’s the extreme, of course, but there are sites that offer little more than that. Google “minimalist web page” and you’ll find some.

Several years ago I attended the product launch for a specialized search engine. The interface had an elaborately designed logo with the word “Search.” Below that was a box where users could enter the text they wanted to find. Wanting to demonstrate the simplicity of the new search engine, the CEO invited his wife to step onto the platform and search for something, implying that if she could use the program, anyone could. (Unfortunately, this also demonstrated his own stupidity and callousness, but that’s another story.)  His wife entered some text but then couldn’t find where to click to activate the search. There was no button, no menu, nothing. Finally the CEO grabbed the mouse and clicked on the logo to activate the search. After all, it did say “Search.” The problem was, it didn’t look like something to click; it looked like a logo. Further, it was above the text box; but things should always appear in the order of use: First enter your text, then click “Search”—which means that the Search button should have come below the text box, not above it.

Form should always follow function; how something looks should always be subordinate to how it works. A button should look like a button.

Not that there’s anything wrong with simplicity. As Albert Einstein once said, “Everything should be as simple as possible, but never simpler.” Those who are involved in any kind of communication—which means all of us—need to keep that in mind.

 

PDF-Xchange Viewer

In the publishing house where I used to work, we experimented with what I call "paperless proofreading." A previous newsletter explains the concept:

http://lists.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1713004126

We also talked about having proofreaders work from PDF files, but that would mean they'd need to get the full-fledged Adobe Acrobat software so they could annotate the text, pointing out errors for the typesetter to correct and inserting queries for the editor. Acrobat has some wonderful features, but at $299 it's a tad expensive for many proofreaders:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/acrobatstd.html

If only we'd known about the wonderful (and free!) PDF-XChange Viewer from Tracker Software Products:

http://www.docu-track.com/home/prod_user/pdfx_viewer/

It won't do everything that Acrobat does (for example, merge annotations from multiple PDF files), but it includes a wide range of PDF annotation tools. And that means you could send PDF galleys by email rather than sending paper galleys by postal mail. How much money would that save you? A 300-page book at 2.5 cents (or more) per page to print or photocopy comes to $7.50. If you make three copies (for two proofreaders and the author), that's $22.50. Add postage of, say, $4.60 X 3 = $13.80, for a grand total of $36.30:

http://postcalc.usps.gov/

If you want overnight delivery (deadlines, right?), you're looking at postage of about $65, for a grand total of $87. And that doesn't include mailing envelopes, time spent copying and mailing, or the time cost of losing at least two days in transit. How many books do you handle a year? Ouch!

So, would PDF proofreading work for you? If you'd like to find out, PDF-XChange Viewer could be the way to go.

http://www.docu-track.com/home/prod_user/pdfx_viewer/

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READERS WRITE

After reading "Deleting Multiple Comments" in the previous newsletter, Greg Ioannou wrote to explain that in Word 2003 and 2007, no macros are needed to delete multiple comments:

From Word's help files:

- To quickly delete all comments in a document, click a comment in the document. On the Review tab, in the Comments group, click the arrow below

Delete, and then click Delete All Comments in Document.

It is a bit more complex for just one reviewer:

- On the Review tab, in the Tracking group, click the arrow next to Show Markup.

- To clear the check boxes for all reviewers, point to Reviewers, and then click All Reviewers.

Click the arrow next to Show Markup again, point to Reviewers, and then click the name of the reviewer whose comments you want to delete.

- In the Comments group, click the arrow below Delete, and then click Delete All Comments Shown.

______________________________________

Ron Solecki wrote:

I think I've found something "new" in Word. Well, it is not documented in any of the M$ Word books I have, the online help, M$ KB (but finding anything specific there is a minor miracle, I suppose it may be buried in there somewhere), or a Google search (first 26 entries) ... so something "new"!

What is this new thing? It is a way of providing fine control displaying levels in View / Outline.

The previously documented methods I've found are:

1. default keyboard shortcuts, ALT + SHF + 1-9, +/- , A

2. outline toolbar, "+" and "-" buttons to open close a selected heading

3. outline toolbar, dropdown "Show Level #" list

4. outline toolbar, "Show Level" buttons (older versions of Word)

5. macros, assign macro to user defined toolbar buttons to recreate the old button method

6. click on the "+" sign beside the heading level in outline view

Now there is a 7th!

7. Document map.

I found that displaying the document map when in outline view provides finer control over the heading levels displayed. In the past I never used the document map with outline view. Why bother, they show the same thing, condensed headings. Occasionally I would use the document map because it provided a slightly more condensed (smaller text) view to jump around in the doc.

The new thing I found is that I can use the document map to provide fine level control in the outline view. This is how ...

- display outline view: View / Outline

- concurrently, display the document map: View / Document map

The two displays are "in sync" showing the same levels. The first 5 methods described above affect the whole document, and clicking on the "+" sign beside a level in outline view opens up everything below it, including the text, which is more detail than I want to see.

Right clicking in the document map displays a drop down with "+/-" signs and "Show Level" options. I've found the "+/-" options unpredictable in the document map, and the "Show Level" choices work exactly like the toolbar option (probably invoke same command) affecting the whole doc.

The "new" thing is that clicking on the "+" sign beside a heading in the Document Map only opens up the specific heading 1 additional level at at time, unlike when you do it in the Outline view, which opens up everything (including text!). And no matter how far down you click in the document map, it will only expand the associated outline view to display headings, never body text!

The result is that you can have the whole document in outline view displaying only level 1 except for 1 heading that you have drilled down as many heading levels as you want using the document map. I've gone down 6 or 7 levels to organize the headings at that level.

It makes sense since both document map and outline view work with heading styles. And the one way fine control makes sense for the same reason. The document map can only display headings, never body text.

I have tested this in Word 2002/XP.

I also tried it in Word 97. But Word 97 has (always had, in my experience) problems displaying in outline view. I found that it has a bad habit of arbitrarily displaying body text in the document map and outline view seemingly at random, making it hard to confirm this tip. Reapplying "Normal" style hides the unwanted displayed text, but it does not always 'stick'.

Many thanks to Greg and Ron!

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

If you're interested in self-publishing or setting type with Microsoft Word, you'll find some interesting information on Aaron Shepard's Publishing Page:

http://www.aaronshep.com/publishing/index.html

Deleting Multiple Comments

While editing in Word, you may use Word's Comments feature (Insert > Comment) to insert questions for your client--or possibly your client has used comments to insert questions for you. In either case, there will probably come a time when you need to remove the comments so the file can be used for typesetting. But deleting comments one at a time can be a real pain.

The solution? A trusty macro, of course. Here's a simple macro that will delete all the comments in a document:

Dim aComment
For Each aComment In ActiveDocument.Comments
aComment.Delete
Next

If you don't know how to use such macros, you'll find instructions here:

http://lists.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706922855

But what if there are comments you don't *want* to delete? For example, what if the only comments you want to remove are the ones you created? The following macro will do the trick:

Dim aComment
For Each aComment In ActiveDocument.Comments
If ActiveDocument.Comments(1).Initial = "JML" Then
aComment.Delete
End If
Next

Just put your own initials in the macro in place of "JML" and off you go--comments deleted; problem solved.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

Making Word Work for You: An Editor's Intro to the Tool of the Trade, by Hilary Powers

ISBN: 978-1-880407-22-6

If you've spent much time in user groups related to Microsoft Word and freelance copyediting, you're probably familiar with the helpful and distinctive postings from Hilary Powers, an expert word-whacker and one of the most respected and successful freelancers I know. When Hilary talks, people listen. And now for the big news: Hilary has released her long-awaited book, Making Word Work for You! You can learn more about the book here:

http://www.the-efa.org/res/booklets.html

Here's the "official" description: "Successful freelance editor Hilary Powers explains how to get the most out of Microsoft Word when editing manuscripts on screen. Among the subjects she covers are personalizing the program and the screen to meet your needs and taste, deploying Word's custom features, domesticating Track Changes, creating and using macros and templates, coping with the snares and pitfalls Word users often encounter, and finding useful resources and program add-ins. With this guidance, editors can increase their page-per-hour throughput--and their income."

Making Word Work for You is available from the Editorial Freelancers Association as a printed booklet and as a downloadable PDF file, both for a price that is less than a lunch at the food court in the mall. If your time is worth anything, you *must* read this book. Nobody--and I mean nobody--understands how to wring productivity out of Microsoft Word the way Hilary does. Don't wait--get this book *now* and follow Hilary's advice. You'll be glad you did. You can buy the book here:

http://www.lulu.com/content/1175135

Many thanks to Hilary for providing such a valuable resource.

Deleting Multiple Bookmarks

Bookmarks in a Word document are useful for many things, such as, well, marking your place, marking ranges for index entries, and marking text for cross-references. But they can also get in the way--for example, if you've finished editing a document for a client and have several dozen bookmarks you've created but now need to delete, or if you're getting ready to import a Word document into QuarkXPress or InDesign, which don't like bookmarks.

The usual procedure for deleting bookmarks is to click Insert > Bookmarks, select a bookmark, and click the Delete button--over and over and over again, since Word won't let you select more than one bookmark at a time.

The solution? A trusty macro, of course. Here's a simple one that will delete all the bookmarks in a document:

Dim aBookmark
For Each aBookmark In ActiveDocument.Bookmarks
aBookmark.Delete
Next

If you don't know how to use such macros, you'll find instructions here:

http://lists.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706922855

But what if your client included bookmarks that you don't *want* to delete? What if the only bookmarks you want to remove are the ones *you* created? Well, if you've started those bookmarks with a unique identifier, such as your initials, the solution is easy. For example, my initials are JML, so I name my bookmarks something like this:

JMLchapter12

JMLsection14

Then, when I'm finished editing, I run the following macro to delete them:

Dim aBookmark
For Each aBookmark In ActiveDocument.Bookmarks
If Left(aBookmark.Name, 3) = "JML" Then
aBookmark.Delete
End If
Next

Just put your own initials in the macro in place of "JML" or use some other unique code such as "zzz" (yes, the macro is case-sensitive).

Bookmarks deleted; problem solved.

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

After reading "The Need for Speed" in the June 14 newsletter, Bill Rubidge wrote:

One suggestion I would add, since it is so basic, is "Learn to use the keyboard whenever possible, rather than the mouse. And I'm not necessarily suggesting learning and memorizing the keyboard commands--I'm just suggesting using the keyboard Alt keys to access the Word menus and move through them to the command you want and would otherwise access via numerous mouse moves and clicks. Once you display the keyboard commands (use the options to do this), learning to use the keyboard instead of the mouse is pretty quick."

Many thanks to Bill.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

PDF XChange Viewer

I've long used Adobe Reader to view PDF files:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Unfortunately, not having the full version of Acrobat, I haven't been able to annotate PDF files for such things as indexing or typesetting corrections--until now.

What's changed? I've discovered the free PDF XChange Viewer:

http://www.docu-track.com/downloads/users/

The Docu-Track website says you can use the program to "View, Print, Export Text & Images, and add content to PDF files, type on PDFs in any font, fill and save forms, and much more!" It also describes the program as "the free alternative to the Adobe PDF Viewer/Reader--fully featured, faster, and still free!"

Note that it's "still" free--implying that later it may not be, so you'd better get it while you can:

http://www.docu-track.com/downloads/users/

Useful Downloads

Okay, I admit it: I'm a software junkie. I sometimes spend hours finding, downloading, and playing with new programs that I think might increase my productivity. Here are a few of my recent finds:

Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. If you have Word XP or 2003 and need to save documents in the new 2007 XML format, here's the answer:

http://tinyurl.com/y5w78r

The OpenXML/ODF Translator Add-in makes it possible to open and save in OpenDocument format (ODF)--the format used in OpenOffice.org's office suite (which is free and powerful). The add-in comes with a command line translator that provides batch conversions.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter

Office Accounting Express is Microsoft's free accounting package. If you're running a small business, or if you're a freelancer, this may be just what you need to keep your books.

http://tinyurl.com/yyj89z

There's also a tax integration add-in.

http://tinyurl.com/3y29rx

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

After reading "The Need for Speed" in the June 14 newsletter, Judy Stein wrote:

I seem to work most efficiently using a combination of keyboard and mouse. My main speed trick is the right-click edit menu: I've put my most frequently used menu items and macros on it (and gotten rid of the default items that I don't use often).

Many thanks to Judy.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

Articles by Geoff Hart

Earlier, I mentioned Geoff Hart's new book Effective Onscreen Editing:

http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm

But Geoff has also published numerous articles on editing, publishing, writing, and related topics, and they're all available here:

http://www.geoff-hart.com/resources/bibliography.html

Many thanks to Geoff for providing such a valuable resource.

Effective Onscreen Editing

If you've spent much time in user groups related to Microsoft Word, Macintosh computers, or technical writing, you've probably seen postings and articles by Geoff Hart, one of the most prolific, respected, and helpful writers and Word experts I know. And now for the big news: Geoff has released his long-awaited book Effective Onscreen Editing! You can learn more about the book here:

http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm

Effective Onscreen Editing is yet to be released in print form, but the PDF version is well worth acquiring--723 pages, exquisitely designed for on-screen reading. I'm going to want the printed version so I can study on my patio with a lemonade in hand, but the PDF offers some real advantages, not the least of which are the clickable hyperlinks to online resources and the ability to search the text (CTRL + F in Adobe Reader).

The book is extremely well organized and amazingly thorough, covering everything from determining your pay rate to preventing repetitive stress injury, from personalizing your software to implementing a practical backup strategy. I've included the basic table of contents below, but you can download the complete table here:

Click to access EOE-detailed-TOC.pdf

If you're editing onscreen, you can't afford *not* to buy this book. I give it my strongest recommendation--and besides, Geoff deserves your support. You can purchase the book here:

http://www.geoff-hart.com/ccart/

Many thanks to Geoff for creating this wonderful resource.

Contents of Effective Onscreen Editing

I. Overview and introduction

Chapter 1. My goal and approach in this book

Chapter 2. Advantages of onscreen editing

Chapter 3. Writing and editing are human endeavors

II. Mastering the tools

Chapter 4. Personalizing how your software works

Chapter 5. Moving around the document and selecting text

Chapter 6. Using revision tracking

Chapter 7. Inserting and deleting text

Chapter 8. Using the search tools (find and replace) to improve consistency

Chapter 9. Developing style sheets: a tool for consistency

Chapter 10. Using spelling and grammar checkers

Chapter 11. Automating your edits

Chapter 12. Editing in special situations

Chapter 13. Using the Internet to improve your editing

III. Identifying and overcoming barriers

Chapter 14. Coping when revision tracking isn't available

Chapter 15. Developing safeguards

Chapter 16. Solving the proofreading problem

Chapter 17. Coping with the human factor

Chapter 18: Putting the theory to work: a four-step implementation process

Appendix I. Developing a sound backup strategy

Elements of a backup strategy

Recovering the current version of your work

Recovering previous versions of your work

Protecting yourself against viruses and other malware

Protecting yourself against theft and damage

Appendix II: Protecting yourself from injury while using the computer

Aches and pains

Hand problems

Eye strain

Solutions

Appendix III: Changes made in Word XP, Word 2003, and Word 2004

Adapting the tips in the main text to work with these versions of Word

Further reading

Useful references

Helpful Internet resources

You'll find more information about Geoff himself at his website:

www.geoff-hart.com

And again, you can purchase the book here:

http://www.geoff-hart.com/ccart/

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

After reading the last newsletter on "The Need for Speed," Bill Rubidge wrote:

One suggestion I would add, since it is so basic, is: Learn to use the keyboard whenever possible, rather than the mouse. And I'm not necessarily suggesting learning and memorizing the keyboard commands--I'm just suggesting using the keyboard Alt keys to access the Word menus and move through them to the command you want and would otherwise access via numerous mouse moves and clicks. Once you display the keyboard commands (use the options to do this), learning to use the keyboard instead of the mouse is pretty quick.

Many thanks to Bill.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

Jonathan's Tool Bar & Grill reviews many free or cheap utilities and Web sites, both of general interest and of special interest to writers and editors. Among the writer's productivity tools recommended are:

* ToDoList (free task list manager)

* Smart Type Assistant (shareware abbreviation expander)

* Phrase Express (free abbreviation expander)

* WordWeb (free dictionary)

* Documeron (free quick access to recently used files)

* TinySpell (free text spell-checker)

* FileBox Extender (free quick access to recently used folders)

* TraxTime (shareware punch clock)

* Copernic Desktop Search (free)

* Screenshot Captor, FastStone Capture, and MW Snap (free screen capture tools)

For more information, visit the blog here:

http://jonathanstoolbar.blogspot.com

The Need for Speed

In my last few years as a corporate employee, I felt compelled to edit faster and faster while still maintaining accuracy. (Could it have had something to do with the many rounds of layoffs in the company?) If you're feeling the same squeeze, I have some suggestions that might help.

1. Choose the fast way over the easy way. That sounds paradoxical, but it's often easier to spend *ten* minutes making corrections manually than it is to spend *five* minutes recording and running a macro to make the same corrections automatically. Human nature, I guess. But if you can keep breaking through your own resistance to change, all those new techniques will soon become second nature, and you'll be working at a higher and faster level.

2. If you're still working on an old 233 MHz computer with 256 megs of RAM, get an upgrade, fer cryin' out loud! Buy a new computer--something fast, with, say, a 2GHz processor and at least 1G of RAM (I recommend, for now, sticking with Windows XP and Word 2000 or 2003). Over the past few years, desktop computers have become very powerful--and cheap:

http://www.techbargains.com/

The latest Macs make me drool, but they're on the expensive side:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore/

"But," you say, "I don't need a fast computer; all I'm doing is reading through one document at a time and making simple corrections." If that's true:

3. Learn how to automate as many tasks as you can; that's what computers are for, and that's why you need one that's fast. If you're still editing as you would on paper, learn how to use macros and wildcard Find and Replace. That will require an investment of time and effort, but you'll be amazed at the results.

http://www.editorium.com/euindex.htm (scroll down to "Macros and Programs").

http://www.editorium.com/euindex.htm (scroll down to "Finding and Replacing").

4. Spend a few minutes once a month researching new software that might make your life easier. There are wonderful programs out there, many of them free, and I'll try to feature some of them in the future. As a friend of mine says, "If you keep doing things the same way, life will never get any better." Of course, I recommend my own Microsoft Word add-ins:

http://www.editorium.com

For lots of other interesting ideas, check out LifeHacker:

http://www.lifehacker.com

5. Maintain your computer. How to do that is beyond the scope of this article, but there's plenty of information on the internet. I like Windows Secrets:

http://www.windowssecrets.com

6. Set your mouse and keyboard to run as fast as you can stand. I always have mine at full blast.

http://lists.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1700849395

7. Don't use directly applied formatting. Do use paragraph styles.

http://lists.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1705536230

http://lists.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1711522967

8. Make sure you've got the final version of the document you need to work on. I can't tell you how many times I've edited something only to have the author say, "Oh, that was a preliminary version." Editing once is fast; editing twice is slow.

9. Educate your authors and clients. If old Professor Higgins always hits ENTER at the end of each line as if using a typewriter, pick up the phone, call the good professor, and explain why that's a bad idea. Don't just sullenly correct the same mistakes time after time. Why not give your authors a checklist of (1) things to do and (2) things not to do? It would make your life easier, and your work faster. I've included a few such items at the end of the instructions for my free Author Tools Template:

http://www.editorium.com/ftp/authortemplate.zip

10. Educate yourself. Spend one hour each week (I like Friday afternoon) learning one new skill or technique that would make your work easier and faster. You might consult my newsletter archive for some ideas:

http://www.editorium.com/euindex.htm

Do you have other hints and ideas about how to speed up editing (while still maintaining quality)? If so, share the love:

mailto:editor [at symbol] editorium.com

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RESOURCES

Macro programs

Can't do what you need with Word macros? Check these out:

http://www.autohotkey.com/

http://docs.blacktree.com/quicksilver/quicksilver

http://www.keyboardmaestro.com/main/

Microsoft Word 2008

Word 2008, for Macintosh, isn't out yet but will be later this year:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-09MacworldPR.mspx

Like Word 2007 for Windows, it will feature the Ribbon interface, with all of the drawbacks I discussed in the previous newsletter:

http://lists.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1720752173

But there's one more drawback that will be utterly devastating: No more recording, programming, or even running of macros. In other words, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) will *not* be part of Word 2008. Here's the explanation given by one of the developers:

http://www.schwieb.com/blog/2006/08/08/saying-goodbye-to-visual-basic/

Since I make a living writing Word add-ins, I'm unhappy about this, and I'm not alone:

http://www.macworld.com/2006/12/opinion/microsoft/

Power users--editors, typesetters, indexers, and other publishing professionals--are just out of luck on this one.

Solutions?

NeoOffice 2.1 is slated to support VBA:

http://trinity.neooffice.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=116

And VBA support is being developed for OpenOffice.org Writer--a very big deal:

http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/VBA

http://www.openoffice.org/

You could also do what I'm going to do: Stick with Word 2004.

If you have other solutions, I'd love to hear about them:

mailto:editor [at symbol] editorium.com

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READERS WRITE

After reading the last newsletter, India Amos (http://indiamos.wordpress.com/) wrote:

Thank you so much for writing this review. As soon as I saw Walter Mossberg's article, I was worried that the new version of Word would break ETK+.

So, it makes sense to me that integrated *programs* such as FileCleaner, NoteStripper, and QuarkConverter would continue to work with Word 2007 (phew!), but what will happen to all the specialized toolbars, if the new Word has no toolbars? I rely heavily on the FileCleaner buttons. Will I finally have to learn the keyboard shortcuts if I upgrade, or will there be still some buttony interface?

I responded:

They'll still be there, but only in the "Add-ins" section of the ribbon. And they can't be moved around, either. So you'll still be able to use the buttons, but you won't be able to move the toolbars anywhere else.

You'll find some screenshots of the Ribbon interface here:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101679411033.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA100898951033.aspx

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Rohn from Winnipeg wrote:

I feel your pain/pane with the "New & Improved" Office 2007 Ribbon UI. I haven't had a chance to try it myself, but what I've seen in demonstrations etc, doesn't impress me. I just came across this blog:

http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/10/09/58

It has a few dozen links (literally!) detailing the design of the UI by someone who worked on it.

The few links I've read so far have been interesting and informative. One of them describes why they limited customization, only approximately 1% of all users do any significant amount of customization (and he mentioned that it represents something like 130 million individuals!)

Another "interesting" site is some more M$ propaganda in Comic form promoting the Ribbon UI:

http://www.enchantedoffice.com/default.asp

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Susan Daffron (http://www.logicalexpressions.com) wrote:

At the risk of sounding like a "me too," I completely agreed with your analysis of what's wrong with the tack Microsoft is taking with Word.

>This combination of making the interface more and more generic and

customization more and more difficult has, in my opinion, finally

resulted in a version of Word (2007) that is unfit for any but two sets

of users: the most basic, and the most advanced (programmers).<<

In fact, I'd venture to say that they are making this mistake with almost ALL their products.

Our company develops software and my husband is a programmer. Microsoft's development tools on the one hand have all these "ease of use" features built in now, yet have become SO complicated that trying to build a simple application is no longer simple.

In my case, like you I've been writing about Word for a long time now (although at a much lower level; my articles are generally for frustrated newbies). But I'm at the point where I want to completely stop. My favorite version of Word is 2000. (I almost never even open 2003 if I can help it.) The Task Pane was awful enough; I want to get off the bus.

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Expert word-whacker Hilary Powers is writing--and will, in a few months, be publishing--a book on editing in Microsoft Word. The title? "Making Word Work for You: An Editor's Intro to the Tool of the Trade." Personally, I can hardly wait. I'll announce the book's publication with great gusto as soon as it becomes available, so stay tuned.

Hilary Powers (http://www.powersedit.com) wrote:

If you still have Word 2003 available, you can make Word 2007 give you most of the old interface. Here's a sneak preview from "Making Word Work for You: An Editor's Intro to the Tool of the Trade," due out soon from the Editorial Freelancers Association:

The next PC release, Word 2007, has--what joy--a completely different interface, sans menus, with (as of this writing) no company plan to make the old display available. To get around this, Cindy Meister, a Microsoft MVP, suggests taking the time in your pre-2007 copy of Word to create a menu template. . . . What you do is go to Tools, Customize and create a new toolbar, saving it in this template. Press Ctrl and drag each Word menu (File, Edit, Insert, and the rest, including any custom menus you've created) into the toolbar and save it. When the dread day comes, copy the menu template to your Word 2007 machine and list it with the add-ins, using whatever procedure that system turns out to require. All your Word menus, more or less as you know them now, should appear. Cindy adds, "Of course, no guarantees that all of them will work just like what you're used to. As of beta 2: Some things do map to the new interface; some don't have any effect at all. But most appear to continue to access current (Word 2003) interfaces." It's not a disaster; comments from beta testers indicate that most macros and add-ins continue to work properly in the new environment, and the new user interface has much to recommend it. Me, I'll probably upgrade eventually--but I'll give it at least a year or two to settle down first.

Many thanks to India, Rohn, Susan, and Hilary.

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RESOURCES

ReferenceChecker checks numerical (Vancouver) and name+date-style (Harvard and APA) references in Word files. The website contains a download section where users can obtain a free, fully functional trial version:

http://www.goodcitations.com