Review: Geoff Hart’s Write Faster with Your Word Processor

I've been a fan of Geoff Hart’s books and articles since 2007, when I reviewed the first edition of his book Effective Onscreen Editing. The beauty of that book is that it applies to any software an editor might use. As Geoff explained then, “The overall goal is to teach editing strategies, not specific software.” However, in his latest book, Write Faster with Your Word Processor, Geoff changes his approach in three ways:

The book is aimed primarily at writers rather than editors, including writers of fiction. (Geoff is well known for his technical writing, but he’s also the author of several novels and short stories.)
The book focuses mainly on writing with Microsoft Word. Why? As Geoff explains, “I’ve provided Word-specific examples because most writers use Word. Moreover, I’ve learned from teaching many workshops that it’s necessary to make general strategies concrete, and Word does a great job of showing how to implement those strategies.”
The book isn’t as concerned with being effective as it is with being fast. It’s packed with useful tips and advice to help you spend less time fighting with your computer and more time actually writing. Geoff promises, “I’ll teach you how to improve your existing skills and learn new ones. As you master these skills, you’ll find yourself focusing more on the craft of writing and less on the tools themselves. That means you’ll write better and faster, with less need for revision.”

Like all of Geoff’s books, this one is thorough—I mean really thorough.

Part 1, “Get started,” explains how to personalize your computer to fit the way you work, with an emphasis on something many writers overlook: hardware. Geoff covers:

Choosing a good monitor.
Choosing a good keyboard.
Choosing a good mouse.

I can’t emphasize enough how important these are. But Geoff takes all of this a step further, covering your computer’s overall behavior, keyboard settings, mouse settings, language settings, and display settings. Then he explains how to organize your files, part of the book I'll be reading in more depth (not that I have any problems with organization). Finally, he talks about developing safeguards: security considerations, backing up your work, updating software, protecting your work with passwords, and protecting yourself from computer-related injury and other problems.

Part 2, “Write your first draft,” focuses on getting your words out of your head and into your word processor, again with an emphasis on speed. “Write first, edit later,” as the saying goes. Geoff explains in detail how to develop and use a strong outline (with a nod to those who prefer not to). Then he covers Microsoft Word’s features that are especially useful for writing (including some you probably don’t know about) as well as settings that you might want to change. Out of the box, Microsoft Word is set up to produce business memos and family newsletters; it is definitely not set up for serious writing. But the beauty of Word is that it’s practically infinitely customizable, so why not turn it into a lean, mean writing machine? Here, Geoff explains how.

I’m not going to go into much more detail about what the book includes; you’ll find a detailed table of contents on Geoff's website. I’ll just say that part 3 explains how to revise your writing once you’ve got it down (now it’s time to edit), and part 4 includes more detailed information and resources to help you back up your work and avoid stress injury, as well as a list of helpful keyboard shortcuts. The book ends with a glossary of publishing terms, a link to an online bibliography for those who want more information about a particular area, a collection of helpful internet resources, and an index that, like the rest of the book, is amazingly thorough.

Geoff writes, “My goal is NOT to teach you the writer’s craft; there are many better books for that purpose. The goal is NOT to teach you how Microsoft Word works; Word is just one of many alternatives you can use.” What, then, is the book’s purpose? “My goal,” Geoff says, “is to teach you how to write using a word processor.” And in that, he succeeds beautifully.

Write Faster With Your Word Processor is one of the most comprehensive books I’ve seen about how to write on the computer. At 352 pages (548 for the PDF version, which includes screen shots), it’s not for the faint of heart. But, as Geoff says, “I’ve provided the information in small chunks, designed for easy reading and browsing. You can dip into the book to solve a specific problem, or read it a chapter at a time to increase your mastery.” I’ll be keeping the book near at hand for those very purposes, and I recommend that you do the same.

Geoff makes it easy to buy the book. You can learn more here.

Bibliographic information: Hart, G. 2021. Write Faster With Your Word Processor. Diaskeuasis Publishing, Pointe-Claire, Quebec.

Printed version: 352 pages, including index. ISBN 978-1-927972-29-8
PDF version (suitable for most tablet computers and very large phones): 548 pages, including index. ISBN 978-1-927972-30-4
EPUB version: (unpaginated) ISBN 978-1-927972-31-1

Review: Geoff Hart’s Effective Onscreen Editing, 3rd Edition

Back in 2007, I reviewed the first edition of Geoff Hart’s book Effective Onscreen Editing, which I still keep close at hand on my bookshelf. Why? Because it’s one of the best books ever written about how to edit on a computer, packed with real-world information you’ll find nowhere else.

My own books (such as Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word) are related specifically to a certain piece of software, but the beauty of Geoff’s book is that it applies to any software an editor might use, on either Macintosh or PC (or a Linux box, for that matter). As Geoff explains, “The overall goal is to teach editing strategies, not specific software.” And in that, the book succeeds admirably.

Geoff covers all of the essentials a working editor needs to consider, including the kind of technical matters that most interest me:

Personalizing your software
Navigating and selecting text
Inserting and deleting text
Tracking revisions
Using comments
Using search tools to improve consistency
Developing style sheets
Using spelling and grammar checkers
Automating editing tasks

He also covers business matters, such as:

Determining your pay rate
Negotiating with clients
Dealing with contracts

But Geoff also addresses the ever-important human side of the editing equation, discussing such matters as:

Encouraging dialogue and communication
Security and confidentiality
E-mail alternatives
Avoiding repetitive-stress injury and other physical problems

In this new edition, Geoff has added important information about recent developments that I’ve seen covered nowhere else:

Collaborative, real-time editing over the Web.
Important new software tools for imposing consistency and applying publisher style requirements.
Proofreading PDF files, online documents, and Web pages.

You’ll find more information about the new edition here. And you’ll find a detailed table of contents here.

If you’re a working editor, you owe it to yourself to buy and read this book, which is available in print, as a nicely formatted and hyperlinked PDF, and as an ebook (free with the PDF) for use with small tablets and smartphones. I make no money from the sale of this book; I'm just an ardent fan. As I said of the first edition, I give it my highest recommendation. And besides, as an excellent writer and a respected teacher known for generously sharing his expertise, Geoff deserves your support. You can purchase the book here.

Many thanks to Geoff for creating this wonderful resource.

Hart, G. 2016. Effective onscreen editing: new tools for an old profession. 3rd ed. Diaskeuasis Publishing, Pointe-Claire, Quebec.
Printed version: 518 p. ISBN 978-1-927972-04-5
PDF version (suitable for most table computers): 827 p. ISBN 978-1-927972-05-2
EPUB version: (unpaginated) ISBN 978-1-927972-06-9

Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word

If you're editing or writing in Microsoft Word, you need to understand Word’s advanced search features. These features are extremely powerful, but they’re also virtually undocumented; most explanations of their use have been limited to a simple table of wildcards. My new book, Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word, explains in detail how you can use these powerful tools to blaze through repetitive problems that would take hours to correct by hand. It covers:

Using Word’s find and replace options (yes, all of them—including the hidden ones).
Finding and replacing with Word’s built-in codes (for dashes, page breaks, and much more).
Finding and replacing with numeric character codes (ASCII, ANSI, and Unicode—when regular letters and numbers aren't enough).
Finding and replacing with wildcards, including wildcard ranges, wildcard groups, and the powerful “Find What Expression” wildcard. (This is the good stuff, the real meat of this book.)

The book explains all aspects of finding and replacing in Microsoft Word, with numerous examples of wildcards used to fix real-world documents, wildcard tips and techniques from readers of Editorium Update newsletter, a reference section for ease of use, and a thorough index.

Although I write and sell Microsoft Word macros for a living, the tools I depend on most are Word's advanced find and replace features. Learning to use these tools takes time and effort, but the payoff is huge. I hope this book will help you use these tools to streamline your work, save time, and make more money!

Daniel Heuman, CEO and founder of Intelligent Editing, sent me the following unsolicited comment:

This. Is. Amazing. What a brilliant, brilliant idea! I've actually been directing people to your wildcard freebie page lately. But this is so much better! The world has needed this book for a while!

Thank you, Daniel! The book is now available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other online retailers.

Resources

Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word is a fairly small (but value-packed) book (114 pages, 5.5 by 8.5 inches). My big book, Microsoft Word for Publishing Professionals (632 pages, 7 by 10 inches) is now available as a free download from Intelligent Editing. All you need to do is sign up for Daniel Heuman's free newsletter, which covers a wide range of topics and provides free tips for authors and editors. I subscribe, and I think you should too. When you do, you'll get Microsoft Word for Publishing Professionals as a hyperlinked, searchable PDF, perfect for easy reference in handling those tough Microsoft Word problems.

Note: The PDF includes a secret special offer right after the front cover. I won't tell you what it is; you'll need to find out for yourself. But I think you'll like it!