Archive for April, 2000

Making Dashes Easy

Tuesday, April 25th, 2000

While using Microsoft Word, I've often thought how great it would be if I could type two hyphens and get an em dash. Also, when I type a hyphen after a number, I want the hyphen to turn into an en dash to indicate inclusive numbers, like these: 3-10. Microsoft ...

The Problem of Proportion

Tuesday, April 18th, 2000

One of the main problems editors have working on a computer is that they lose their sense of proportion about the manuscript. What do I mean by sense of proportion? While working on a paper manuscript, with the pages piled neatly on the desktop, editors know exactly how much work ...

Spell Checkers? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Spel Checkrs!

Tuesday, April 11th, 2000

Maybe you've seen that funny little poem about spell checkers that occasionally makes its way around the Internet. It comes in various versions, but the first and last stanzas usually go something like this: Share

When Word Gets in the Way

Tuesday, April 4th, 2000

If you've done much editing in Microsoft Word, you've probably noticed that some of Word's "helpful" features just get in your way. Luckily, Microsoft has made it possible to turn those features off, so that what you type is what you get. Here are some of the more common problems ...