Master the Basics and Feel the Power

Not long ago I watched over a friend’s shoulder as she made corrections to a document in MS Word, lumbering along in slow motion with her mouse, and after about two minutes of this, it was all I could do to keep from snarling “Let me drive!” and knocking her out of the chair.

Okay, so I’m working on the patience thing. But meanwhile, I have a feeling that copyeditors everywhere are wasting billions of hours and a lot of carpal tunnel nerves simply because they don’t know the most basic moves in word processing.

An example: when my friend wanted to undo an action, she motored her mouse up to the toolbar and clicked on the Undo arrow. About the fifth time she did that, I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “You know, Ctrl+Z is easier.” Embarrassed, she mumbled something about bad habits.

Here’s what I propose, and it’s simple, and it will change your life: over the next few days, make note of the computer action you perform most, and if you aren’t using a keyboard shortcut for it, find one. Here are two good ways to find a shortcut:*

1. Search online, e.g., “MS Word undo.”
   
2. Within Word, go to Tools, then Customize, then Keyboard. (In Word 2007, start with the Office Button, then Word Options, then Customize, then Keyboard Shortcuts.) I always scroll down in the Categories box and choose All Commands, which provides a list in the Commands box of everything you might want to do. Click on the chore you want to do faster, and you’ll see what the keyboard command is for that chore. And (this is the most exciting part), if you don’t like it, you can change it. And if there isn’t one, you can assign one.
   

The next part is admittedly more challenging: force yourself to use the shortcut. But I guarantee that after the first awkwardness, you will feel the power! And you’ll go back for more.

______
*You can also try the Help files in MS Word, although older versions tend to recommend clicking on menus and toolbar icons instead of using the keyboard.

Photo: She Ra, 1980s Princess of Power Doll, by Speckled Owl, courtesy of Flickr

Comments

[tbg]

People say that necessity is the mother of invention, but really laziness is (and I mean that in a good way!).

[Frontmatter]

I call it copyhacking, and I couldn't imagine working without it.

Level 1 moves (on a Mac keyboard):
command + c (copy)
command + v (paste)
command + z (undo)
command + y (redo)

Ninja move: fn + command + F3 = change case of selection (i.e., ON A MAC KEYBOARD to On A Mac Keyboard to on a mac keyboard)

Also, I've set command + c to be my "insert comment" shortcut.

[Erin]

I would like to know how to change all occurrences of ALL CAPS in a document to Initial Caps in one fell swoop. Is there a way to do this in Word?

[Katharine O'Moore-Klopf]

You can speed up the routine parts of editing also by learning to use macros and templates.

Here are two sources of good editing macro packages: http://www.editorium.com/ and http://www.wordsnsync.com/edittools.php.

Here is a source of information on using macros: http://www.editorsforum.org/forum_index_articles/tip_17_electr_edit_w-your_computer_03-16-04.php.

Here is a short book on using macros, templates, and custom Microsoft Word features: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/making-word-work-for-you/5538906.

[The CopyWright]

Buy a Logitech Trackman Marble mouse and apologize to no one for not using shortcuts!
----Loyal mouser

[AnnieP]

@Erin: Shift+F3 cycles through all-caps/lc/init-cap-only

[jd]

yeeeah, but macros are virus-prone, i don trustem. I copyedit w/ shortcut keystrokes galore, if you cant you dont really know how to use the tool you're wielding; get some training. But answer me this -- why, when sp-cking an alien document does Word hop dictionaries -- from English (US) to English(UK) w/ no warning! or opt-out! -- & even to French German Italian ....?

My authors write docs that cause me to hop over to unwanted dictionaries in sp-chk and I cannot seem to force Word to stick to English(US) while going thru a document.

And nobody give me shit about spell-cking, I correct complex economics books and enforce CMOS consistency etc. but use. sp-ck as a final step to catch my own slip-ups on proper names etc., and you should too.

So: how do I force/choose dictionaries once sp-ck has begin?

thx,
-J

[Erin]

Great! Thanks, AnnieP!

[Toma]

Great post. Getting others to use keyboard shortcuts is the trick though. It's like evangelism--you're telling that person something really important to you but you don't want to make them feel stupid or awkward. But once you get someone on board, you find that you can't control your enthusiasm. I'm now getting ready to spread the word about the suggestion to create an insert comment shortcut, thanks to Frontmatter!

[SRL]

@Erin I'm assuming that you truly means all words in all caps. If so, Yes, there is a way to change all words in all caps to initial caps in one fell swoop, or rather a combination of swoops. (1) use Find (not Replace) with "Highlight all items found in" turned on. (2) Use wildcards to specify words in all caps. (3) Once you've run Find and all results are highlighted, cancel the Find box. (4) Use Shift + F3 to cycle to the appropriate capping. All highlighted words will be affected.

The problem, of course, is that this will affect valid acronyms and initialisms.

[Karen]

On a Mac it's Command-Z, and I frequently find myself trying to use it in real life, such as when I take the wrong exit off the highway.

[Sarah Callejo]

Shortcuts are such a time-saving blessing!!
I get so annoyed with new applications that barely include hotkeys or shortcuts.
And many times our fingers just go to the key combinations automatically, regardless of the programme!

[Kristen Stieffel]

On a Mac, most menus will show you what the keyboard shortcut is for a menu choice. For example, in Firefox, if I open View > Zoom > Text Zoom in, it shows the command-plus shortcut.

I don't touch the mouse til I have to.

[4ndyman]

VBA code (aka, macros) aren't "virus-prone" if you write them yourself. Once you get a basic idea of how they work, you they can really be helpful.

One of the most helpful for me is a bit of code that will delete all the "live" hyperlinks in a document or in whatever text you have selected: http://www.infinitecadenza.com/VBA/Word.html#hdel

[telofy]

I recommend LaTeX and Vim; or LaTeX and any other feature-rich text editor (e.g., Geany).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX
http://www.vim.org/
http://www.geany.org/

[Kerri]

I have a macro that allows me to paste unformatted text by pushing Ctrl+K. It has changed my life. I highly recommend editors make macros for the things that annoy them because they take 3 or 4 steps.

[Karla]

It's amazing to me how few people use keyboard shortcuts, and yes, I can't stand watching people slowly mouse to easy destinations. Especially when watching students and conference speakers start Powerpoint presentations by mouse instead of pressing F5. Very, very slow.

I'm always glad to learn a new shortcut.

[Valerie (Kyriosity)]

Another way to save those carpal tunnel nerves is to ditch the mouse altogether and invest in a tablet such as those produced by Wacom.* I've been using them for 12 or 14 years now, and would otherwise probably have needed surgery by now. They take some getting used to (an added bonus is getting to flummox any tech support people who come to work on your machine), but soon become second nature.

*Forgive the commercial endorsement, but I love 'em! I use their most basic model -- http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_pen.php -- and note that the price has come down 30 percent since I replaced mine.

[SciEditor]

So. True. How do text workers get through the day without keyboard shortcuts? I posted 5 shortcuts I can't live without. Mostly, the shortcuts navigate word documents. http://ow.ly/4ZO8f

My clients don't let me use macros (too buggy and "unsafe") but I do program a raft of autocorrects and clipboard items (for pasting) for each new project. Also, I programmed the 11 buttons on my tablet for my most common actions. (Second shout-out to Wacom. Simply invaluable. I bought the fanciest one, though I work exclusively in text. Because, I'm fancy.)