A word processor is a blessing, a massive improvement over writing by hand or by using a typewriter. Even so, most people who use a word processor slog through it just as if it’s an automated typewriter. Of all the foibles they commit, three rise to the level of great sin.
Great Sin Number One: Enter
In a word processor, you press the Enter key to end a paragraph, not a line of text. I actually believe that most people understand that rule. After all, it’s been decades since typewriters were used to teach keyboarding. I don’t really know anyone who is pressing the Enter key at the end of a line, but I suppose it still happens.
No, the larger sin with the Enter key is using it to add space between paragraphs. As with the space key (sin number two), any time you have to press the Enter key more than once in a document, you’re committing a sin. That’s because paragraph formatting, specifically the space between paragraphs, isn’t handled by the Enter key.
When you desire more space between paragraphs, you apply that paragraph-level formatting. In Microsoft Word, it’s either the Spacing Before or Spacing After setting in the Paragraph dialog box. That’s how you add “air” between paragraphs, not by pressing the Enter key a boatload of times.
If you need to space out paragraphs for fancy formatting purposes, then you’re better off putting your text in a box and dragging the box around the screen. (I’ll write about that process in a future blog post.)
Great Sin Number Two: Spaces and Tabs
Any time you have to press the Spacebar twice you’re committing a word processing sin. Yes, even after typing a period, you need only one space. That two-space thing comes from the typewriter era, where two spaces after a sentence aided in readability. When you word process, you don’t need the extra space.
Worse: You whack the Spacebar multiple times to indent text or line up a column. I should slap you for doing that.
If you need to indent text, use a tab. To indent the first line of a paragraph, change the Indentation/First Line setting. That’s the proper way.
To line up a list of items, use the Tab key: Set a tab stop in Word, then press the Tab key to line up the text precisely with that tab stop.
Great Sin Number Three: Page Numbers
Yes, it’s the year 2013 and some people still manually number their pages. You don’t have to! Word does it automatically for you, and it even has about 45 different ways to accomplish the task.
Okay, I’m kidding about the 45 different ways, but obviously the automatic page numbering feature is being missed by too many people. I can’t think of another reason why Microsoft sought to place that option in so many different locations in the program.
If you need a page number, choose one of the page numbering commands. Don’t manually type the page number!
