Word Software – a Blessing or a Curse for Writers?
A lot of writing instructors advise you to show, don’t tell, cut adverbs, avoid passive voice, etc. These things matter. When I work on the Night to Dawn magazine or books, nothing makes me more frustrated than finding a potentially great tale cluttered with clichés, adverbs, and exposition. But no one addressed the eccentricities of Word software.
My first fight with Word happened when I loaded the anthology, Blood Moons and Nightscapes onto the book file. Because all of the tales had seen publication before and gone through rewrites, the printing font had changed several times. I changed the font yet again to Garamond. Capital mistake. All of that formatting had caught up with the story, and Word gifted me with huge gaps between paragraphs on the book file. I spent weeks trying to obliterate those gaps. Many curse words later, I succeeded. Most editors will tell you to stick to a plain font. I see it on the guidelines all the time. Now I understand why.
Word waged its second war when I attempted to use a two-column format for NTD 16 and added page numbers. Changing to a multi-column format divides the manuscript into sections, as I found out five stories into the layout. Word treated each section as an individual file. That left me with five sections each beginning with page 1 for the manuscript. Whenever I tried using the “linking” tool to get a continuity of page numbers, Word deleted the page numbers on the previous section.
Writers who like multi-column formats for nonfiction pieces, take note. Tables give you a multi-column look without the headaches, and I did negotiate several two-column pages on NTD 16 using tables. Select “table,” “insert,” and then “table” again. When you do, you get to pick the number of rows and columns. For a two-column page, you only need one row and two columns. Paste in your text in its respective row for the page. If you highlight the page and select “borders,” you can get rid of the lines boxing the columns. You’ll still see it on the Word page, but not on the PDF or hard copy. I used tables for NTD 16 and now, issue 17.
An editor at Aspen Mountain Press introduced me to track changes, and I am finding that the tool help a lot with revisions. I’ve been using it for the NTD edits, and for the sequel to Dark Side of the Moon. My enthusiasm for track changes has led to my most recent battle with Word. Each day, somewhere through the revision process, my Word software freezes. Control, Alt, and Delete will unfreeze the software by closing the file. It also deletes my unsaved data. I’ve been hitting “save” after each paragraph. My sister talked me through increasing the virtual memory which resolved the problem.
Most of my writing buddies stick with XP Windows and Word 2003 as I do and have resisted moving onto Vista. I have just ordered Publisher 2003; 2003 it had to be since Publisher 2007 and Word 2003 don’t go together. Publisher will enable to do things with the NTD covers I can’t do now. Win 7 has replaced Vista, and if I wish to replace my existing computer or buy a laptop, I will have to make peace with the newer software, including upgrades for Word and Publisher. So much for the learning curve department.
So often I read posts on the AMP forum about malfunctioning computers. It is a major problem especially if you only have one computer. How many of these problems involve Word and other programs, I wonder? Word offers some true blessings, such as the track changes and table formats, but when it freezes my computer and plays with my documents, it can seem like a curse.
I’d like to hear about your experiences with Word. Do you find it an asset for your writing projects or a hindrance?
Barbara Custer, Editor & Publisher
Parkinson’s Scorched Earth Policy
My home is a balloon forest. Balloon trees grow in every room. Throughout the day, Mike loves to admire the Mylar fruits that blossom on them. No one suspects at first glance that he is being haunted by a vampire called Parkinson’s disease.
I can’t recall when Mike’s war with Parkinson’s began, only that he became the prisoner. Back in 1996, when Mike received his diagnosis, his neurologist assured him the disease would not kill him. He went about his business earning his potatoes, hanging out with his buddies, never understanding until later about Parkinson’s scorched earth policy.
The docs have come up with a lot of magic drugs to fight off this vampire. Mike is allergic to most of them. He realized his relief in 2003 when the docs performed deep brain stimulation. They did this by implanting rods in his brain, and pacers, if you will, in his chest. These pacers cause the rods to release dopamine where it counts to stave off the motor symptoms.
Those who have read my book Dark Side of the Moon may wonder why I got my idea for the Kryszka medical technology. This was one of my sources. Mike had his surgery for the left brain in 2001 and the right in 2003. We learned about the disease’s scorched earth policy after his second operation, when worsening fatigue forced him to miss more and more days at work. Finally, rather than lose benefits, he retired on disability, and that was when the disease whispered “scorched earth” for the first time.
The speech and swallowing difficulties came next. In 2005 his disease demanded that he take all liquids with thickener. On the heels of that came the loss of his license. Finally, as of the last year, problems with mobility and the health insurance quagmire. Somewhere behind the balloon trees you’ll find hand grips and the like, along with calculators and spreadsheets. Mike has been taking it all in stride, having done time in the Navy back in the 60′s.
I continued on with my day job and writing projects. Still do. My next book will in fact feature a protag who is fighting rheumatoid arthritis, another disease that practices the scorched earth policy, and at the same time, she must slay monsters to stay alive. You don’t know how strong you are until necessity demands it.
And so I carry on, but have been silent on a lot of my old authors’ forums. Some of my buddies have asked where I’ve been, and they ask about Mike. I’m here to assure everyone NTD is doing well, and to thank everyone for their sentiments. But Mike could use some thoughts and prayers.
What Will You Read Tomorrow?
Today, I’d like to celebrate the work Night to Dawn books has been doing with Tom Johnson. We received great reviews on three of his books, Heroes of Ancient Greece, Pangaea: Eden’s Children, and Tunnel through Space. Tom has been a pleasure to work with, and I am happy to share with you what people are saying about his books. –
- HEROES OF ANCIENT GREECE
- AUTHORS: TOM JOHNSON, MICHAEL A. BLACK, RALPH E. HORNER, RON WILBER
- ISBN# 978-0-6152-1439-9
- June, 2008
- Paperback
- Night to Dawn Books
- www.bloodredshadows.com
- Price $13.50
- 190 Pages
- Adventure/Greek mythology/fantasy
- Five Stars
As I young fan of those classic barbarian movies of the 1950s and ‘60s, I found “Heroes of Ancient Greece” captured the best of the sand and sandal flicks of my youth. This collection has four enjoyable tales by three authors who must have grown up with those muscle action adventures also. The first half of the book is allotted to Hercules with two adventures, while the second half is devoted to Atalanta.
Hercules and the Moon Goddess by Tom Johnson pits the mighty half-mortal half-god against the Blue Moon Goddess, a woman from another world with a crew of giant robots at her command. Michael A. Black then presents Spawns of the Titans, in which the mighty Hercules must battle a sea monster and a giant Cyclops to free an island of chained slaves.
Artist Ron Wilber starts off the second half with The Legends of Atalanta, a three-page comic book retelling the legend of the mightiest female warrior that ever lived. Tom Johnson then returns with Atalanta and the Golden Lion, telling the story of Atalanta’s journey to Africa on the Argo to battle a prehistoric lizard and giant golden lion. And finishing up this fantastic collection is Ralph Horner’s Atalanta Alters the Tide of Alida. Atalanta must travel to the undersea kingdom of Atlantis to save its people and destroy a number of foes in the arena.
Based on Greek Mythology, the stories lean towards science fiction and fantasy, and you can tell the authors enjoyed writing these romps in mythical adventures. As I read them, I could imagine each story as a film produced by the famous Italian directors of the 1950s & ‘60s. I would love to see more Greek Mythology taken out of the classroom and given to these authors to write more great adventures for our heroes of Ancient Greece!
Terry Roberts, Reviewer (SF/Etc at a Glance)
- PANGAEA: EDEN’S CHILDREN
- THOMAS E. JOHNSON
- ISBN 978-0-578-01222-9
- 2009
- Night to Dawn Books
- www.bloodredshadows.com
- Paperback
- $13.95
- 145 Pages
- Science Fiction/Adventure
- Five Stars
The sequel to 2008’s “Pangaea: Eden’s Planet”, Eden’s Children resumes as the descendants repopulate and settle the primitive Earth. But much has passed in the 60 million years since the first novel. The Gen-sis have split into two factions, the Mellors, a weakly race that lives by science in the cities they built, and the Thongars who have returned to the jungle to live off their wits, and new found strength.
Desree, a beautiful jungle girl communes with the animals of her land, and is both protector and subject to the savage creatures of Pangaea. When modern man discovers a time portal that brings them to her land, they find a city with a treasure vault worth a dozen King Solomon’s Mines. Killing the Mellor guarding the treasure, they plan on removing the great wealth, but Desree and the savage jungle prove a formidable stumbling block. Armed only with a bow and arrows, she protects her world from these invaders.
I was fascinated by the world and characters the author created in this exciting tale of lost lands and peoples. The time is the Jurassic of Earth’s pre-dawn, but a Jurassic we can only imagine, as man and reptile exist together. The characters are more than mere paper figures running across the page. You journey with them, battle along side of them, and feel their love and pain. Mr. Johnson’s writing is reminiscent of the early works by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and those early writers of science fiction adventure. A wonderful read, and I hope to find more books by the author.
Terry Roberts, Reviewer of SF/Etc At A Glance
- TUNNEL THROUGH SPACE
- TOM JOHNSON
- ISBN#978-0-578-03589-5
- August 2009
- Night to Dawn Books
- www.bloodredshadows.com
- Paperback
- $16.50
- 269 pages
- Science Fiction/Adventure
- Five Stars
In this futuristic tale, a giant cargo ship transporting ore from the outer planets to Earth is sucked into a Black Hole, spitting ship and crew out somewhere near the Big Bang at the beginning of time. Crashing on a primitive planet in a binary star system, Captain Lamont Rogers and Lieutenant Marsha Tomlison survive, but are separated by hundreds of miles, with fierce jungle beasts and savage peoples in a land of thick jungle between them.
Attempting to reunite, the main characters must face dangers at every turn, and during their trials encounter both friend and foes. Captain Rogers, nicknamed the Preacher, has been a Godly man all his life, and does not believe in taking another’s life, but now he must learn to kill to protect his friends and those he loves. Lieutenant Tomlison is the opposite of her commander. Rough and untamed, she was constantly in trouble, usually involved in drunken brawls with the men she met in off-world saloons. Nor was she averse to sleeping with one she liked. Now, lost in the jungles of this savage land, she must humble herself as a primitive people rely on her for protection and leadership.
The author creates a world peopled with fascinating characters and animals, and spins a tale that keeps the reader turning pages. I was drawn into the action from the time we first meet these characters until the final page, and hope there is a sequel in the works. Tom Johnson does not rely on sex and ugly language to tell the story, and I was reminded of the storytellers that first brought us great jungle adventures, like Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Terry Roberts, Reviewer of SF/Etc at a Glance
Barbara Custer, Editor
