 | Display non-printing characters such as carriage returns, spaces and tabs
for more control.
(in MS Word click the Hide/Show icon to toggle show on
 dialog box
or use Tools menu Option and check ALL or hold Ctrl and
shift keys and tap the asterisk (*)) |
| This is not longer a typewriter so:
 | Use the Ruler for left and right indents, especially
for 1st line indent |
| Use "Line Before/Line After paragraph option for vertical
spacing (not enters). |
| Use Indents or tabs for horizontal spacing.....NEVER
spaces! |
| Use word wrap meaning let the Word Processor
determine when a line is full and the next line should be started.
|
| If necessary keep two or more words on the same line
(like Dec 21) with a non-break space (Shift + Ctrl + space) or (Insert
Menu, Symbol, Special Characters tab.) |
| Use the Alignment features like
 center and right align . |
|
|
Use numbers like 37, not word form like thirty-seven.
|
|
Use US Post Office's 2 character state abbreviations
(NJ, rather than New Jersey and FL rather than Florida.
NY, CO, DC, PR). |
| Use the $ (dollar sign), don't type the word dollars. Type $400, not 400
dollars. |
| Use whole dollars (NO pennies unless
you’re writing a check) for any amount over $100 ($4,000.00 is
confusing, $4,000 is better). |
| Use proportional spacing for everything. For example, either serif
(Times), or San Serif (Arial)
|
|
Use a 12 point font and space your paragraphs at 1.2 for maximum
readability.
|
|
Always type in UPPER and lower case, never just UPPER.
All UPPER is harder to read and on the Internet all UPPER is poor
Netiquette - it is
called shouting. |
| Italicize the names of publications,
books and
magazines every time. Underlining used to be ok, but with the web
it means a hyperlink to always
italicize).
Do NOT put publication titles in quotes. |
| Put article and
chapter titles in quotes "This is an Article" or
"Chapter Title". Do NOT put book titles in quotes.
|
| In early assignments show off your word processing expertise -
use
varied typefaces, font sizes, sprinkle in font styles like outline. Bold, italicize and
underline. Use some different paragraph indents, some borders and shading,
a footnote, clip art and
page borders. |
| In the first paragraph of a review, give the book name, author and
copyright date. |
| Give the magazine’s title and complete date in the first paragraph.
|
| Give the computer store’s complete name and town. Tell when you
visited. |
| Be specific. You can’t possibly write about the entire book,
or everything that happened at the computer store, so write about the highlights and
describe what you learned or found particularly interesting.
|
| Be literate:
| Use there for position "It is there". Use their
for possessive "it is their house". |
| It’s for "it is" and its (no apostrophe) for
"it belongs to it".
(No ' in his, no ' in hers, no ' in yours, no ' in ours and
NO ' in its). |
| Prove you know this -
take the quiz. (Want to improve your English writing
skills -
take
a few fun tests)? |
| You're is "you are", while your
is possessive, it belongs to you. |
|
Copyright, not copywrite (it is the
right to copy granted only to the author) |
|
| Use Spelling Checker to Spell check. Remember "I red the
brook" will not be flagged as an error, so you must proof your work!
|
| Use the thesaurus feature (MS Word keyboard shortcut is Shift
F7) and make your writing more fun to read. |
| Type one space before and NO space after an open parenthesis;
one space after but no space before a
close parenthesis or brace or bracket.
Type one space before and NO space after a the begin quote (")
There is no space before a end quote (").
Type 1 space after a word, a comma and a close parenthesis ).
Type 2 spaces after an end of sentence terminator (. (period), ? and !)
|
|
Have a friend proof read your work and then proof theirs, you'll
both learn something.
|
|
Remember to Footnote words and pictures that are not
yours, especially from the
Internet
|
|
Word Processing
lets you make what would otherwise be dull and boring into documents
that are inviting to read with clip art, watermarks, borders and
shading. |
