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Monthly Archives: May 2012

How do I count the words in my Word document?

30 May

Looking at the search engine searches people have done before coming to this website, I’ve realised I need to publish some notes on how to count the words in your Word document. This information covers Word 2003, Word 2007 and Word 2010, although most of the screenshots are from Word 2007.

How do I count the number of words in my Word 2007 document?

Word 2007 and 2010 handily display your word count at the bottom of the screen. Well, it should be there. Let’s see …

 But what if it’s not there? If you want to display your word count at the bottom of your document, right click with your mouse on the lower menu bar – that’s the blue bit at the bottom of the window, indicated with an arrow on this screen shot:

Do take a moment to marvel at all the different things you can do on this menu bar – we will come back to them another time! Now, when you’ve clicked on Word Count, you should see your word count at the bottom of the window:

OK, so that’s one way, but what if you want more information, such as the number of characters (maybe you’re writing some text that has to keep to a certain character limit)? Never fear, there are often two ways to do things in Word, and this is no exception.

We’re going to stop looking at the bottom of the screen and move up to those tabs at the top. Click on the Review tab and you will see the Word Count option to the left:

 Click on Word Count and you will get a little dialogue box telling you all sorts of information …

Now, what if you want to count just the words in a particular section of your document (you might be trying to keep to a word limit per chapter or be writing lots of short articles you want to check)? Simply highlight the section of text you want to count, then either look at the bottom of the screen, where it will tell you that you have highlighted x out of a total of y words, or click on Word Count on the Review tab and your dialogue box will tell you just about the words you’ve highlighted:

How do I count the number of words in a Word 2010 document?

Word 2010 works in exactly the same as Word 2007 as far as the lower menu bar goes, so just follow the instructions above to show the word count at the bottom of your document.

When it comes to the Review tab and Word Count option, it’s all pretty much in the same place, but looks a little bit different:

How do I check the number of words in a Word 2003 document?

In Word 2003, you can access Word Count from the Tools drop down menu.

Please note, these hints work with versions of Microsoft Word currently in use – Word 2003, Word 2007 and Word 2010, all for PC. Mac compatible versions of Word should have similar options. Always save a copy of your document before manipulating it. I bear no responsibility for any pickles you might get yourself into! This is part of my series on how to avoid time-consuming “short cuts” and use Word in the right way to maximise your time and improve the look of your documents. Find all the short cuts here …

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2012 in Copyediting, Errors, New skills, Short cuts, Word, Writing

 

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Expensive or expansive?

28 May

Although these are two different words that mean two different things, they are spelled very similarly, and I think that’s how the confusion creeps in. Having said that, even though the a and e are not next door to one another on the keyboard (I had to check that: I touch-type and most of the letters have worn off my keyboard through over-use) this one does come up fairly frequently.

Expensive means of high cost – either in monetary or some other terms. An expensive training course costs a lot, an expensive manoeuvre might cost the army dear in terms of people or equipment.

Expansive means covering a wide area, or extensive (although I don’t see extensive mixed up with expensive, which you would kind of expect!). It also means relaxed, communicative and genial, when used to describe a person. “The grounds of the castle are expansive”.

So you may have grounds which are both expansive, as in large, and expensive in terms of their cost of upkeep. But there’s going to be no more mixing up of the two words, now, is there?

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on May 28, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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Pus or puss?

25 May

Yuck, yuck, yuck! I said to (well, Tweeted to) the last person I saw muddling these up, “Don’t make me do a Troublesome Pair on this one!” but actually there is a need, isn’t there.

I’ll make it short.

Pus is the liquid formed in infected tissue

Puss is a term of affection for a cat, or a coquettish (young) woman.

Pussy (pronounced to rhyme with “fussy”) means full of the above liquid. Pussy (calm down … and pronounced with a u as in “pushy”) is another affectionate term for a cat. Maybe that’s how the confusion has crept in.

Anyway, there we go: all done now. Eugh. But necessary, yes?

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on May 25, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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My short cuts – Using AutoCorrect in Word (1) What it is and where to find it

23 May

Have you come across AutoCorrect yet? Open up a Word document and type “teh”. Did it magically change to “the” in front of your eyes? That’s AutoCorrect.

So, it’s great for correcting common typing mistakes that lots of people make. But did you know that you can harness its power to help you write and type more efficiently and faster? In this article, I’ll tell you more about AutoCorrect and explain where to find it in different versions of Word, so you can tinker with it to tailor it to your requirements. In the next post, I explain just how to do that.

How to access AutoCorrect in Word 2003

Let’s look at Word 2003 first. You can find AutoCorrect under the Tools screen (I have to admit that it was so much better when it was so accessible, right here off a main menu. Nowadays, they like to hide it!). Click on Tools and then near the bottom, you’ll find AutoCorrect Options.

Once you’ve clicked on AutoCorrect Options, you’ll find yourself at a screen that will start to look familiar as you work your way through this article. This is where you can see what is already set up, and delete / change / add AutoCorrect entries as you wish. More about that in the next article!

How to access AutoCorrect in Word 2007

Here is how to access AutoCorrect in Word 2007. When I first moved over to Word 2007, I found it a bit hard to track down AutoCorrect – the key is to click on that Office button in the top left corner of the screen. When you do that, a menu will come up below the button, with a list of the files you’ve recently accessed (that’s what I’ve blanked out, for confidentiality purposes!), with a list of things you can do and, right at the bottom, a Word Options button. Click that button.

Once you have clicked on the Word Options button, you’re confronted with another menu (oh, for the simplicity of Word 2003!). You’ll find lots of intriguing options here, some of which we’ll be exploring in further articles, but for now, what you want is Proofing, about half way down on the left hand side. Click on Proofing and you will get a menu including the heading AutoCorrect Options. Click on the AutoCorrect Options button …

… and you come to a rather familiar screen, offering you a place to delete, change and add AutoCorrect entries as you wish. More about that in the next article! Note that you can also set up a shortcut button on your Quick Access Toolbar if you use this a lot.

How to access AutoCorrect in Word 2010

Now, in Word 2010 I feel like they’ve buried AutoCorrect just that one level deeper. But we’ll find it! To access AutoCorrect in Word 2010, you need to first click on that File tab, one to the left of Home, to which Word defaults. This has replaced the Office button from Word 2007. Anyway, Click on the File tab and you will be given a menu which, handily enough, doesn’t have a “Word Options” entry, but just Options. Click on Options.

Once you have clicked on Options, you will be given a new menu. This is quite similar to the one in Word 2007. Choose Proofing and then AutoCorrect Options.

… and here is your menu where you can see what is already set up, and delete / change / add AutoCorrect entries as you wish. More about that in the next article! Note that you can also set up a shortcut button on your Quick Access Toolbar if you use this a lot.

In the second half of this article, we look at how to tailor the automatic corrections to suit your purpose, whether you have a word you just can’t spell or type correctly, or you need to type a lot of words fast and want to auto-type particular common phrases.

Many thanks to Katharine O’Moore Klopf for the Word 2003 screen shots!

Please note, these hints work with versions of Microsoft Word currently in use – Word 2003, Word 2007 and Word 2010, all for PC. Mac compatible versions of Word should have similar options. Always save a copy of your document before manipulating it. I bear no responsibility for any pickles you might get yourself into!

This is part of my series on how to avoid time-consuming “short cuts” and use Word in the right way to maximise your time and improve the look of your documents. Find all the short cuts here …

 
10 Comments

Posted by on May 23, 2012 in Copyediting, Errors, New skills, Short cuts, Word, Writing

 

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Asterisk or Asterix?

21 May

This one is a real life example of something I found in an academic text. Luckily I spotted the error and saved the client’s blushes! But I also thought, “Aha – a Troublesome Pair!”

Asterix is a cartoon character, a Gaul resisting the Romans, in a series of French books.

An asterisk is one of these * – a little star which is usually used to indicate that there is some text in a footnote at the bottom of the page.

Don’t put a Gaul where you mean to put a little star, or, indeed, a little star where you mean to put a Gaul!

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on May 21, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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Is it actually worth the stress?

16 May

I was chatting to a business associate the other day. He’s enjoying his high-powered, high-stress and, let’s be honest, high-earning position, managing all sorts of change, rushing around here, there and everywhere … or he thinks he is.

Actually, he’s plagued by all sorts of niggling illnesses, that have become worse. Nothing that’s putting him in hospital, but things that are affecting his quality of life, outside work more than inside, and can’t be ignored.

So, is it worth the stress?

Downsizing your life, downsizing your stress levels

I can claim to be a bit of an expert on this, from personal experience. Having been doing a management-level, fairly demanding job in London, when we moved to the Midlands I was determined to have “a job”. In fact, we both agreed we would indulge ourselves for a year, M going back to post-graduate study and me looking for a basic level library job.

I had a bit of trouble, as a qualified librarian, getting a basic entry level job, but I did in the end. Lots of people said I would get bored; my managers tried to encourage me to apply for promotions I didn’t really want. I’d been up the corporate ladder, and I knew that it suited me at the time to have “a job” rather than “a career”, something that would pay the bills but allow me the resources and energy to enjoy my new life in a new city.

So that’s what I did, and I was perfectly content for a good few years. In fact, having that lower-stress, lower-responsibility job allowed me to start up Libro and develop my own business.

Different career paths for different life stages

Now, I could have quite easily chosen to progress through the corporate ranks again, gone for those management jobs, gone for the higher salary, which is always a consideration, isn’t it. But I decided to go this alternative route, and set up the business.

But I did that in as stress-free and risk-free a way as I could (see my article on not taking risks for more information). I’d decided it wasn’t worth the fear of going full-time at the beginning, the stress of having to scrape around for money to live on, etc. Instead, I lived very frugally, scraped together money to live on in advance, and launched Libro full time in January 2012.

Now I have a satisfying job, where I’m responsible to myself and my clients, no bosses, no employees. I earn more than I’ve earned in any of my corporate jobs, and, having identified during my career that I like to work in this way, that I don’t like office politics, being a manager, etc., I can honestly say that, even running my own business where every sick day means income and jobs lost, where I do sometimes put in an 11 hour day, but where I can claim what I know makes me happy:

  • responsibility for myself and my clients
  • no employees
  • no office politics
  • flexibility to juggle my day to fit in friends and exercise

I am as stress-free as I can be. And I have no stress dermatitis, no IBS, I’m fit and healthy and enjoying life.

I’m not boasting about this: it’s taken time to know myself and know what I want, and it’s taken hard work to get here, which hasn’t always been the most fun I’ve ever had. But I’m in my own space now, not trying to jam myself into an inappropriate role, and I’m very much happier as a result.

Know yourself and make the change

The photo at the top of this post? That’s butterflies emerging from their chrysalises. Whether what’s confining you is stress or something else, such as lack of the confidence to break free, surely it’s worth trying to achieve your potential and seeing what you can do … if you just break out of the chrysalis.

My advice to you, if you think you’re stressed, or you don’t think you’re stressed but your body does …

  • Think about what you REALLY want. Is the money worth it? Yes, we all need money to live on, yes, economic times are perilous, but if you can save anything ahead of changing your lifestyle, do it.
  • Think about what you enjoy, what you need, and work towards claiming it.
  • Talk to close friends or colleagues. How do they see your stress levels? What solutions can they offer?
  • Talk to a reputable life coach or careers counsellor. What ideas do they have?
  • Mind-map, brainstorm, go walking for a week, whatever it takes to give you space to think this through.
  • Seek mentors and role models. People have told me my blog posts have helped them on their path to self-employment (hooray!) – look around for people doing what you might fancy doing, and drill down into how they did it.
  • Think laterally. Do you really want to be an architect, or do you want to work for a housing association? Do you really want to be a social worker, or do you want to train as a counsellor? Could you work part time while you pursue your aims?

My “career path”, from corporate ladder-climber to “just a library assistant” to successful small business owner shows that you can step down, sideways, whatever. I’m not a risk-taker, I’m not particularly well-off, and it hasn’t always been easy. But it can be done.

Good luck!

 
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Posted by on May 16, 2012 in Business, New skills, Organisation

 

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Me or myself?

14 May

I find that I and other people wince a bit when we see myself used, as it commonly is, in a seeming attempt to sound more formal, or managerial, or literary, or, well, something. We’ve all seen it – “If you have a problem, please contact myself”. Keep it simple is the rule here: “If you have a problem, please contact me”. There is a place for myself, but it’s a smaller, more precise place than people may imagine.

OK, I’m ranting a bit now; let’s just look at the rules for this one …

Myself is the reflexive first person singular – used by the speaker to refer to themselves as the object of a verb or preposition when he or she is the subject of the clause as well – “I picked myself up from the ground and continued on my way”, “I got myself dressed in time for the video call with my important client”. It’s also used in an emphatic way for I or me, emphasising that something was done personally by the speaker: “I didn’t go to the hairdresser, no: I cut my hair myself”. These, really, are the only times we use myself.

Me is the nice, plain, simple first person singular, used by the speaker to refer to him/herself as the object of a verb where someone else is the subject: “He gave the job to me”; “Please contact me or Linda if you need this work to be done”.

If you’re doing something to yourself, you can use myself. If someone’s doing it to you, you need to use me. “I cleaned myself up after I grazed my knees”/”I cleaned myself”; “Gill cleaned me up after I grazed my knees”/”Gill cleaned me”. Clear now?

Don’t get mixed up with themself/themselves and me/I, while we’re on this topic of how to refer to people …

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on May 14, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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Devise or device?

11 May

There are lots of other word pairs with an -s- and -c- (practise/practice, advise/advice) that are differentiated by the fact that one is a verb (the -s- one) and one a noun (the -c- one). These two have become slightly more separated and slightly less confused, I feel (but maybe you’ve found differently).

To devise is a verb meaning to plan or invent something (usually something such as a process, procedure or mechanism that is quite complicated). “He devised a route to get from Manchester to Birmingham, not using any motorways”, “The clockmaker devised a mechanism for making a watch show the time in 15 different time zones”.

A device is a noun meaning a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment made for a particular purpose (“He constructed a device for making American recipes using English measuring instruments”), or a plan, trick or scheme (and, by extension, a form of words that’s intended to produce a particular effect: “She used a metaphorical device to explain quantum mechanics in her astounding poem”).

So, you could, indeed, devise a device, but I don’t think you’d want to, simply because of the cumbersome repetition (just like you don’t practise practices!).

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on May 11, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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My short cuts – how to change your text from upper case to lower case

09 May

This is part of my series on how to avoid time-consuming “short cuts” and use Word in the right way to maximise your time and improve the look of your documents.

Sometimes you really want to change a sentence from, maybe, all lower case to All Title Case, or ALL CAPITALS to all lower case, or some other variant.

And you know how to do it, right: delete the sentence and retype it, or delete the first letter of each word and retype it, or turn on overtype then forget to turn it back to insert when you’ve finished … well, there is a way to just do it with a couple of keystrokes!

How do I change all small letters to all capitals or all capitals to all lower case letters?

This is such a simple one. Highlight your sentence (1). With the sentence still highlighted, press shift and F3 at the same time. Magic! With each press of shift-F3 it will cycle through Title Case (2), UPPER CASE (3) and then back to lower case (4).

This is so useful if you’re grappling with a bibliography you’ve written or you’re editing (especially when the capitalisation in article or book titles is not consistent), or if you accidentally type something all in capitals.

Please note, these hints work with versions of Microsoft Word currently in use – Word 2003, Word 2007 and Word 2010, all for PC. Mac compatible versions of Word should have similar options. Always save a copy of your document before manipulating it. I bear no responsibility for any pickles you might get yourself into!

Find all the short cuts here …

 
36 Comments

Posted by on May 9, 2012 in Copyediting, Errors, New skills, Short cuts, Word, Writing

 

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Adviser or advisor?

07 May

This one has come up a few times and so I am sure there are a few people out there who are confused when trying to choose between using advisor or adviser.

So, which is it to be? I think people may think that advisor is more formal (even posher) in some ways, and it’s definitely used more in official documents and marketing-ese.

But in reality, this is another pair that means exactly the same. Adviser or advisor: just pick one!

What I would say (and what I always say), is be consistent. If you introduce a mortgage advisor on page 1, make sure they haven’t changed into a mortgage adviser by page 4!

Oh: but it’s always advisory (not advisery, which isn’t a word) when you’re talking about having the power to make recommendations (but not to enforce them, interestingly). “The panel is operating in an advisory capacity and cannot force the employees to wear baseball caps”.

I personally prefer advisor. What do you think?

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
4 Comments

Posted by on May 7, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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