The Journal, Wednesday, 7/1

The Day NOTE: I’m trying something today with this blog post. I’m sending it from my main website at HarveyStanbrough.com. If it goes only to those who are signed up specifically for this journal, then it’s all good. If you are reading this and you are NOT signed up for this journal (formerly FrostProof808.com), please accept my apologies. Thanks. Rolled out a little after 2. Wow. July just kind’a snuck up on me. Even as I … Read more

Writing Memoir

Wait! Before you click off ’cause maybe you aren’t interested in this topic, read this: If you are NOT a subscriber yet over at FrostProof808.com and if you ARE a writer, you want to do yourself a favor and stop over there to read yesterday’s post. I think you’ll enjoy it. (grin) Okay, now go ahead and read about Writing Memoir, below. Hi Folks, I’m pretty sure a lot of folks who read my blog are … Read more

A New Series of Posts

Hi Folks, This is to introduce a new series of posts. Two of my recent posts have been about learning, but many others (especially those on FrostProof808) have been about writing into the dark, a function of the subconscious mind. The thing is, you LEARN with the conscious (critical) mind. You WRITE with your subconscious, creative mind. So this series will be nuts and bolts stuff to feed your conscious mind. What is important will sift … Read more

Microsoft Word for Writers: A Few Notes About Styles

Hi Folks, This post will be the last in my Microsoft Word for Writers series. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and gotten some benefit from it. Of course, I’ll be back in about 10 days with a new post on a topic of interest to writers, self-editors and self-publishers. Some have mentioned that I haven’t explained Microsoft Word’s styles function. That’s because this blog series is intended as a general guide to using Microsoft Word as … Read more

Microsoft Word for Writers: Odds & Ends

Hi Folks, Occasionally I receive an email from a writer who has no idea how to insert an em dash (there are a few ways) or what I mean when I suggest they use the Save As function to rename a document or how to save a document to a different folder on the desktop or to a flash drive, for example. Here are a few notes that might help: To form an em dash in … Read more

Microsoft Word for Writers: The Paragraph Formatting Tool

Note: Please forgive, but I just realized MailChimp did not send out this post or the one after it. For that reason, I’m going to republish both of them. This one will go out on 8 May and the next one, which is titled “Learning,” will go out on 9 May. After that, we’ll be back on schedule with two final posts to close out the Microsoft Word for Writers series. My apologies for any confusion. … Read more

Microsoft Word for Writers: Setting Word Options

Hi Folks, Here come your Word Options, and there are a ton of them. The good news is, setting them isn’t that difficult and many of them need to be set only once. To access your options in Microsoft Word 2010, click File > Options. (Note: While the File menu is open your document will seem to disappear, but don’t be confused. It’s still there. To get it back, just click File again.) Once you click … Read more

Microsoft Word: Setting Up the Quick Access Toolbar

This is not some asinine April Fool’s joke, but an actual post. Enjoy! Hi Folks, Time really is money, and one way to save a great deal of time when using Microsoft Word is to set up your Quick Access Toolbar. Doing so will also give you more screen space, a bonus if you’ve had your eyes more than about 12 years. We talked about the menu (also called the ribbon) last time, but the fact … Read more

To Be or Not To Be

Howdy folks, This is yet another in the “out of the series” series of mid-term posts that might answer a few questions for some of you. Recently a friend and fellow writer asked me for a recommendation of someone who could read his work. He explained that he wasn’t looking for an edit or even a proofread, but simply wanted someone to read it with an eye toward whether he should continue writing or shuck the … Read more

Microsoft Word for Writers: Setting Up the Menu

Hi Folks, There are several items available for use in the Word menu (also called the Ribbon), and most of us use the Ribbon as-is out of the box. However, just in case you want to customize it, here are some brief instructions. In this screenshot, the Ribbon is the horizontal white area that includes the menu tabs: File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, Review, and View. Other tabs are available (see Figure 5), but these are … Read more