Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Question about MS Word

This is topic Question about MS Word in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :

I've looked on Mircosoft.com for this but can't find it, so I'm asking in the one place where I know I can actually gt help, though the help isn't urgent.

Two questions actually.

1) Is there a tool or formatting tool that allows a single space between the words document become to spaces without having to use Justification?

and

2) If so, how do you do it?

I've realised that most of the publishers that I can send my works to tend to lean towards two spaces between words and I don't really have the patiance and attention span to go through many thousands of words and adding another space after each full-stop.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :

i thought it was the exact opposite, Leigh, that they want 1 space between words and 1 space at the end of sentences. you might want to check on that.

anyway, i believe the Search-Replace function in Word will do that, but you have to use a special code to indicate the space. I'm not at a windows computer, so i can't look it up right now. if HSO comes along, he can tell you for sure.

Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :

For period space I think you can just type it. If you are working with tabs or paragraph marks, you click on the more button and special. Or maybe it's just special.

Posted by Aust Alien (Member # 3493) on :

As others have said -
In word choose Edit-->Replace (or Ctrl+H).
In the "Find What" text box type dot-space (not the words, the two keys).
In the "Replace With" text box, type dot-space-space, and choose select all.

The problem with this is that it will convert any dot-space-space that already exists to dot-space-space-space. The way around this is to first replace every instance of dot-space-space with dot-space, then replace all the dot-space's (includes the original dot-space-space's) with dot-space-space.

Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :

You'll still have to make sure it doesn't change ellipses though. But again, you can do a global fix for those. After doing the above, do another search and replace for dot space space dot space space dot and change it back to one space.

Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :

Why would you have spaces after ellipses? As for the things that were already dot space space, run a search for dot space space space.

We've actually just marked the 3rd annual observance of Billtmas, which was a holiday that resulted from a Find and Replace error. The traditional foods include virgin pina coladas and cinnamon candied nuts. It's proximity to Talk Like a Pirate day suggests many fine entertainment possibilities.

Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :

Using the Find/Replace as noted above is the best way to do it. Then, also noted, do a new one to remove any extra spaces that might have been made. I would recommend creating (or recording) a macro so you can use it over and over and storing it in a manuscript template, not the normal.dot template. To make sure you haven't missed anything, do a FIND with the Highlight function to see if anything has three or more spaces, do another to see if your dialogue looks dandy, checking to make sure you haven't added spaces after a period and a quote mark, and so on (this is why writing macros initially can save about 20 minutes to an hour each time later on).

You can write advanced Find/Replaces using the Wildcard function, which will make it easier to avoid adding additional spaces between ellipses or inside dialogue quotes (you can do the same with simple searches using the "any character" or "any letter" functions available found when you click on MORE and Special Formatting. Although it's easier to write a VB code script if one is so inclined. Additionally, there are lots of great sites which have the code already made for nearly every scenario. Do a search for "Visual Basic for Word" or something similar and about 60 billion hits should come up. My favourite site is: http://word.mvps.org/index.html

Of course, if you train yourself to use two spaces instead of one, then it is problem solved, for it is much easier to remove spaces efficiently. But this has caveats as well. When using a True-Type font such as Times or Arial, only one space is necessary since there is a little additional space added after the full stop (period). Using Courier, a monospace font, two spaces after a full stop [for manuscripts] is highly recommended. And this is also a matter of opinion. We old-timers who learned to type on manuals and electrics were taught to always add two spaces after a full stop. Word processing software has changed this...

Posted by Jammrock (Member # 3293) on :

MS Office Assistance (tutorials, how-to's, FAQ, etc.):

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/default.aspx

MS Office Training Center (training videos and audio):

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/default.aspx

The first link will probably be the most helpful to you. You can also use the Search tool at the top of the page to find more specific help files.

As for your question, look in: Format -> Paragraph. I believe the options you are looking for are in there, but the question it's worded clearly so I can't be sure.

Jammrock