Style is Everything in Microsoft^® Word^®

A Handbook of Time-Saving Techniques for Formatting Complex Documents* and Other Practical Tips

* Books, Manuals, Pleadings, Legal Documents, Dissertations, Screenplays, Proposals and the Like

by Mary P. McArthur

Not everyone uses Microsoft Word and not everyone who does needs such a book, though if you know folk who do, please check this out.

Complex documents, such as books, legal documents, manuals, proposals, directories, dissertations and the like, can use a variety of headings, paragraph numbers, headers, footers and page numbers.  They can emphasize key words and phrases.  They can include automation elements, such as tables of contents, authorities and figures; footnotes and endnotes; cross-references; and indexes.

In Microsoft Word, style is everything … well, a lot, anyway.  Styles enable consistent, easy-to-apply and flexible formatting and they link formatting with automation elements.  Learning how to use these features can save you time while ensuring professional-looking documents.

Most of this handbook focuses on these styles and automation elements.  The rest includes a potpourri of suggestions for configuring your default settings, creating shortcuts, cleaning up material from other sources and standardizing document designs within an office.

Table of Contents

• Before You Begin
• Where, Oh, Where to Start?
• Topics in This Handbook
• How Would You Like Your Document to Look? Plan Ahead
• The Secret to Controlling Document Formatting: Styles
• Alert! Styles vs. Direct Formatting
• Change the Default Font of a Document … Normal-ly
• What's in This Document Anyway? View Formatting
• Do I Have to Hand-Type Multilevel Paragraph Numbers? I Thought This Was a Computer!
• It Gets Better: Shortcuts!
• The Secret to Varied Page Formats: Sections
• Varied Page Numbers
• Subsections
• Varied Headers and Footers
• What Is Where? The Table of Contents
• Notes About Notes … Foot and End
• Criss-Cross … References
• Where Are All the Pretty Pictures? Tables of Figures
• Speaking of Pictures … A Word or Two About Graphics
• Where Was What Cited? Tables of Authorities
• Where Is Everything? The Index
• Re-use Your Work and Spread the Wealth with Templates. What? Why? Where?
• Handle Text from Other Sources
• Badly-Behaved Documents? Tame Them!
• Tips for Screenwriters
• Tips for Publishing
• Time-Savers … Macros!
• Appendix
• Index
• About the Author

The handbook is in landscape, two-column format, comb-bound and was created using most of the features discussed.  The left side of over 200 pages describes Microsoft Word features and provides step-by-step instructions for their use.  On the right are document and template samples, screenshots of the elements mentioned on the left, abbreviated steps, tips and more.  Many of the screenshots are from Microsoft Word 2010 and functioning remains similar in ensuing versions.  For Word for Mac users, the menus/ribbons are different, though many dialog boxes and the functioning are similar to the Windows version.

Purchasing

The handbook is available on from the author, Mary McArthur

To order a copy of the book, send a check or money order for the book (yes, TSL is old school on payment), shipping and handling to The Software Lady at the above address:

    Style is Everything in Microsoft Word     $39.95

    Handling and shipping of one book by USPS:
        Via Media Mail        $5.00, total: $44.95
        Via Priority Mail    $10.60, total: $50.55
        Via Overnight        $28.45, total: $68.40

Please contact Mary McArthur for pricing and shipping costs for multiple books.