Yesterday Kid 2 called me, visibly exhausted.
She is finishing up her second manuscript. We trunked the first one because while it was good, you can only debut once, and this new one is much more her. I’d sent her Maggie and she really loved the way it’s formatted.
In case you’re wondering, this is the Literata Book font, which is the default for Google Play books. Each chapter heading is preceded by an “insert break” to make sure that it starts on a new page. This way, no matter how much you edit the file, the beginning of a new chapter doesn’t slide around and you don’t end up with the chapter heading at the end of one page and the first paragraph at the beginning of another.
I like it because it looks like a printed book. Hehe. Heh. <–Geeky writer chuckles.
Kid 2 is also a fan of this formatting, and she decided to “make my manuscript pretty.” She promptly changed all the settings, but the manuscript didn’t look right.
While in high school, she ended up in the International Baccalaureate program, which required a massive amount of essay writing. They trained her to double-tap at the beginning of each new paragraph, so there is an extra blank line. I don’t know why this was done; nobody uses it anymore; but apparently back then it was a thing.
She’d double tapped the first couple of chapters, before organically switching to a single break for the paragraph.
At which point I said, “You know you can edit that automatically with Find and Replace and if you use ^p code?”
No, she didn’t know.
This is a lateral professional gap, to some extent. High schools and colleges rely a great deal on Google docs, while the publishing industry runs on Word. Word is the gold standard. I’m proficient with Word, but Google Docs always give me that 5 second pause while I try to orient myself.
I told Kid 2 how to fix the double breaks, and that got us started on weird things writers do to their formatting which make no sense.
Every profession has their strange quirks and rituals. Theater people wish each other break a leg before a performance. Wall Street traders tend to be superstitious and do things like avoid writing with red pens or not trading on the third Friday of the month.
When stuck, writers mess with their typography and work place. Here is a short list of silly stuff we try to get going again.
Maybe it will work in Arial – When writers are stuck, they sometimes change the font of their manuscript because it might magically fix things. I’ve done it, other people I know have done, and you know? Sometimes it works.
My butt is connected to my brain – When stuck, some people will switch from desktop to laptop and vice versa, or change which piece of furniture they use because sitting in a different spot might somehow be inspirational.
My talismans are mighty – When stuck, writers will clean their desks and rearrange the sacred objects on it.
Bargain with the devil you know – When stuck, writers will make little deals with themselves, like “I will not refill my tea cup until I have 200 words.” This can backfire in hilarious ways, because whatever we are feeling ends up in the manuscript. I once read a work in progress where the heroine had to pee for about 50 pages. There were multiple references to it. The writer was on a hellish deadline. For a couple of weeks, they locked themselves in their office every day, determined not to leave it until a certain amount of words happened and they were very fond of coffee.
A wise craftsman blames his tools – When all else fails, some people take the drastic step of changing their writing programs. Sometimes they will change OS. This is how I ended up with a MacBook for a couple of years. Full disclosure, I hate Mac OS with a passion of ten thousand suns. I love my iPhone, but for work I love my Windows. But I wanted to try Scrivener and at that point the Windows version of it was rudimentary. I wanted pretty backgrounds to my writing page because it would help. It did not help, but since we spent the money, I was then stuck with a MacBook until it died. Scrivener did not work for me. I tried. I know a lot of people love it, but I need Word’s spell check and structure.
And there you have it.
What weird quirks do you have in your professional life?
Könyvelő vagyok, és ha eltérés van a könyvekben és nem találom a hibát lefekszem aludni! Tízből tízszer megálmodom hol keressem!
I used to teach a Master class in Word for IT professionals that support law firms. Law firms are document centric. The class was a week long and the manual was several inches thick. I always carried that manual in a backpack when I traveled. I was afraid of losing it in my checked baggage. When printers switched to portional typefaces, I used the book The PC (or Mac) is Not a Typewriter. I never use two spaces after a period and always style my documents.
Thanks for sharing this! My creative pieces (little sculptured animals) are generally not on a deadline. But I often employ this technique for say, laundry. I don’t play WOW until I’ve done at least two loads. Well, maybe one… 🙂
Yes, the search & replace codes! They are actually the only reason I still own a copy of Word. I have even gone so far as to export from Google to Word, run search & replace cleanup macros, then import the clean document back into Google.
just enough of chapter 1 to hook me in. does the kid have a website?
The chapter shared is from House Andrews’ new project, Maggie, not Kid 2’s manuscript 🙂.
There is no website (yet) for her works.
Project manager here; If I can’t work through a problem or I need to dive deep into a competitive landscape analysis I’ll take my ear buds and go work from our cafeteria at a high top. I don’t know if it’s the new space or the increased chaos around me, but it makes my brain think in new ways. Coffee shops also work.
I’m a “recovering” programmer. I could wax poetic over whether emacs or vi is better, do you create an indent with tabs or spaces (and how many), do you have any empty lines, where is the line break for blocks of code – i.e. brackets\braces\block notation get their own line or not, etc. We all have our quirks – but for many in the space there’s a method to their madness.
I see patterns so whenever I was helping a co-worker debug code, I’d start by systematically formatting it (lots and lots of lazy devs out there that don’t follow ANY pattern) and while formatting found where they didn’t properly close\end a statement for instance. Rarely did I have to look further than just formatting code for actual code\logic mistakes although many times I’d find that as well simply because how they’d formatted it messed up their logic in wonderous ways…..
It’s taken me a LONG time to adjust to single carriage returns in Word for a new paragraph (because if I want an empty space when programming which doesn’t autoformat for me, I still have to do 2). Same for automatically double spacing after periods which is no longer a thing 🙂 Most word processors nowadays just remove them as you’re typing but it still bugs me sometimes…. <– elipses which all of us GenXers use and none of know why LOL
I did translatiions ( Finnish to English) and editing of English and I always did it from a printed copy and used editing marks. Not so good with computer editing.
Overleaf solved easy LaTeX problems for technical writing cause lots of smart people support it. Math is still a work in progress for all, not just tools. vim is baked into my fingers. I run macs and love them for easy support.
I was a typesetter for many years in another life. In the beginning I used computers that were specifically programmed for typesetting. I was sent to train on the computer, not only how to use it’s features but to learn typesetting in general. I loved the fact that I could program in just about anything as far as kerning, etc. The most challenging book I did was a compilation of titles from ancient books. It was several different languages with a slew of accent marks, some of which couldn’t be programed in and had to be done by hand with press on letters. Some foreign words I noticed were used frequently I programmed in. But the hardest part was where to break a foreign language word at the end of a sentence.
Okay everyone is commenting on operating systems and programs, I want more of Kid 2’s book. I’m assuming that’s what the page in this post is. Looks really good so gimme.
No, the page is from Maggie, the newest House Andrews project- it is shared to exemplify the formatting discussed.
We haven’t (yet) been privy to any snippet of Kid 2’s work 🙂
Woohoo Congratulations Kid 2!!! I hope when it is published; BDH will be told!!!
I make lists, mark them off when the task is done – that way at least I accomplished something. While doing those items my brain wanders then I usually come up with some sort of answer to something I was stuck on. lol
When I’m stuck, I don’t mess with my typography, but I do change all the character’s names. As if that has anything to do with why the plot won’t work…
I NEED pretty things to stare at when i think. blank walls are bad and make me feel bad. and my desk must not be too cluttered or my brain is cluttered. the struggle is real. and i definitely move around the house to think. I have a laptop-laptop table to enable me to work from any piece of furniture.
i am very far from writing as a profession, but i 100% believe the juju!
oh! and in word, my big tip that I live on is having the hidden formatting symbols on. I often have to write pieces of report in whatever format someone else is using, which means making it look like theirs. cntrl + * FTW. I love styles, but that relies on the owner of the doc setting them up right…
I will never say the “Q word”.Working in Healthcare IT, it’s a double whammy. You say it, and within seconds all the beds will be full, the ER overflowing, and it will be a full moon, as your queue fills with tickets because people will NOT understand that a device must be powered on to work, and every single server I am responsible for will take a dump. If someone says, “It’s sure q**** today,” they must be stopped before the phrase is complete.
“While in high school, she ended up in the International Baccalaureate program, which required a massive amount of essay writing. They trained her to double-tap at the beginning of each new paragraph, so there is an extra blank line. I don’t know why this was done; nobody uses it anymore; but apparently back then it was a thing.”
This is what is done in France, for example the French Baccalaureate written exam. You need two blank lines for each new section, to highlight how you divided your essay (usually introduction / 2 or 3 parts / conclusion). Essays are handwritten and can be as long as 8 pages, so it helps define the text.
Also, each new part should start with an indent.
These rules are strict and still applied today. Fun times!
When I was working as a features writer at a magazine, I once walked into an office where I was meeting someone for an interview and saw some of the wisest words I’d ever seen.
Written in billboard-sized writing on a huge central whiteboard it said, “NEVER let a piece of electronic equipment KNOW that you are in a hurry.”
It is advice I live by to this day. 🤣
I’m a marriage therapist, something we do not do is acknowledge or speak to clients while out in public. If they do then I’m more than happy to speak back. Keeping confidentiality goes beyond the office.
I do love Word but….
laurelhach:
using microsoft word
*moves an image a mm to the left*
all text and images shift. four new pages appear. paragraph breaks form a union. a swarm of commas buzzes at the window.
in the distance, sirens.
True story 🙂
So true.
My coworkers have realized if I am constantly walking back and forth between the shelves and the computer I am doing reorders. (I run the craft department of a local store). I may also be talking to myself.
I tell people to never throw out anything with my hand writing on it, unless it’s a note I’ve left them.
You absolutely can NOT say the word “quiet” or “slow” at my work place (about how work is going), because the minute you utter those blasphemous words, will start the countdown until it will become insane and everybody will regret their life choices. LOL. I’m not superstitious. But if you say those words about how how work is going when I’m there, you will DEFINITELY be responsible for any and all calamities that subsequently occur.
Now I just want to read the book where the heroine has to pee for 50 pages!
I went to university in the eighties… computers were glorified word processors and it was possible to lose all your work if you didn’t save every few minutes. We set up an alter to the computer gods in our entrance hallway with offerings.
Right there with you. I learned that the hard way. One hot day, I turned on a fan, which blew a fuse and the electricity went out. My boyfriend was lots of pages into a long report and lost all but a couple of pages because of that. That he was upset is an understatement.
I recognize that computers are sentient and they hate me!
I drink Pepsi instead of coffee except when the coworker I intensely dislike who is so abhorrent to any and all productivity my brain just assigns any shift with them as a ‘survive the s@$& show and go home- on those shifts I will only drink Dr. Pepper or room temp water. When I am home I will sit alone and drink cherry pepsi in my favorite glass with ice like it is a normal person’s wine or beer. Until I am home and have successfully survived and maintained professional decorum long enough to get home I will not have any pepsi. I don’t know when I started doing it or why it’s Dr. Pepper since I don’t generally drink Dr. Pepper except for those shifts but it’s now become enough of a thing my husband and my kid 1 know if I stock up on Dr. Pepper it’s gonna be a LOOONNGG week for mommy and thus there is always pepsi and copious amounts of my favorite treats magically ( not bought or shopped for by mommy) waiting in the house.
Wishing Kid2 all the best!
I am able to make really good notes of a meeting when manually writing in my notebook. Concise, to the point. Done on the fly directly.
When I had to move to making notes into Word to be able to share them and find things easier….
I have to write every word. Every single one. I am fast and can do it but in a big going on 6th year project it’s getting tiring.
But my notes are really good at finding what happened a year ago in design if needed. 🤷♀️
This is a day late; didn’t check the emails ’till this morning.
Anyway, my weird quirk, when I was painting professionally, was to set the timer for about 15 minutes before my husband would come home for lunch. When I was deeply immersed in creating art, I would loose all sense of time & the ability to speak. The telephone had an answering machine, which I would “tune out,” & even though I would turn on the radio for music when I started, that would fade away, too. The first time I lost the ability to speak really freaked me out. I felt like I had just sat down to work for about five minutes before Jim came home. It had been four hours. He kept talking to me, & at first all I could do was stare at him, mute, before the speech kicked in. After that, I picked out an alarm with an extremely loud, irritating buzzer & set it out of easy reach so I couldn’t just quickly grab it & turn it off.
I’m semi retired now, but one of my former jobs was as an internet tech. Our group was outspoken, cantankerous, and educated enough to argue grammar. We had frequent debates over the use of punctuation (okay, outright rows and toe to toe fights). We all had our little rituals to make our work flow, and we all talked to our computers. I miss those people-they were my tribe.
I have a terrible time focusing while sitting in “proper” position. When I was working in an office job, I had so much trouble until I started looking around for unused chairs. I lucked into finding an old swivel chair that I could sit cross-legged on — made such a difference!
I work at a library and we also try to avoid the Q word or the word slow especially if you’re working the check-in or check-out desks. It causes chaos, the line grows to 6 deep, and everyone wants curbside pickup, or help printing documents. Several patrons return 20 or more books.
I have also petted a cross-town bus and said, “Be a good bus. Don’t break down I need to get to work. ” The bus didn’t break down and I made it to work on time. Since I only worked part-time I didn’t ride the bus every day. The next time I got on the bus driver said, “You weren’t here to be nice to it and it broke down again.” I made sure to pat it and say nice things and off we went to work without mechanical issues. I also talk to my computer all the time.
LOL, that is awesome. I used to pat my pickup’s dashboard when pulling a trailer up long hills. That truck never once broke down on me. It did eventually break down on my daughter, but not for lack of affection on her part; it was very old by then, with over 250K miles. Also she was living nine hours away from us and did not have a reliable mechanic at the time. Ours would have checked the brake line when she had it in for service. She was able to get it safely off the road. RIP pickup.
Hate hate hate Google docs and all its formatting awfulness. Word is best and I still weep for my Outlook
when the monitor was a humongus thing on your desk and things were going wrong with my computer i would wap it upside the head and it would start working. i also used to thump on copiers and they would work. these new fangled monitors can’t hold up to abuse so i just shut down and restart these days.
So when do you think the BDH can read a teaser of her book?!?
I mean we wouldn’t be the BDH if we didn’t ask right? I’m pretty sure there was a mug or something with that on it at some point …
Pre-congrats on the new book in the family! Can’t wait (obviously 😊)
In my younger days, I worked on aircraft communications for the Air Force: radios, interphone boxes, etc. We had a guy in the shop with the magic touch. After spending two days troubling shooting and changing parts, and it STILL wasn’t operational, I’d finally go get ****. He’d walk over, stare at it, then flip the power switch on. The frigging thing worked like a champ. Never failed.
Sorry, forgot to add that when I have a scene that just won’t work, I lean back, stare at it and invoke his name. Sadly, it doesn’t always work.
I know this is a bit off topic, but I can’t really find anywhere else to ask. Did I miss something, or is Derek’s sojourn with Ice Fury a story yet to come? Please?
You haven’t missed ay story about Derek with Ice Fury 🙂 . There will be more of Derek in the sequel to Blood Heir, and maybe he’ll tell us more then!
Thank you so much. I really think his story NEEDS to be told, and I’m looking forward to hearing it.
I use Word for work and Google Docs for personal, and I have trouble with Docs sometimes. I’ve gotten better, but I know all of my needed tricks in Word, and I usually have to do a Google search for how to do the same thing in Docs.
I’m also old enough that learning the new rules of grammar, like the now 1 space after a period are hard. But I have a friend who works in communications and updates me on some of them.
Work-wise my main quirk is when I’m writing SQL queries I use notepad++ instead SQL server management server, mainly because I can customize background and key word colors. But also because I can zoom in easier and put code side by side for comparison.
I’m a humanities academic – lots of writing. When I hit a block, I’ll tinker with another part of the same project, or do some non-writing busywork around the office/house for 15-60 mins. In the vast majority of cases that works, but if it doesn’t, not much else will, so it’s parked to the following day.
I’m long time Word user and fan of finding/replacing special characters from my editing days, but our university’s latest update of 365 is driving me nuts. I need to do a bit of research to find a way to turn off the AI prediction for the rest of the word or phrase – it so distracting / disruptive. Being only able to work on one comment at a time (even offline) is more than doubling the time it takes to work on collaborative docs. At least I managed to turn the suggestions off for outlook emails …
I had to laugh when you included theatre people amongst the superstitious – because we are the worst of the worst! I always refer to “The Scottish Play”, throw salt over my left shoulder and NEVER walk under ladders. Primarily because some numbskull with drop a tool off the top of said ladder.
I’m with you on the MacBook. It’s like trying to use scissors with the wrong hand. Give me my PC with Excel and Word, and I can produce wonders. Give me a Mac, and I’m degraded to a world class curser. I wonder if your Mac’s demise was artificially hastened in any way.
Hard core Excel user, hate the Mac version passionately. Every shortcut is wrong.
Used to work in an architectural design office. We had an Epson plotter that was absolutely temperamental. It would start printing and then stop part way through. The main admin was this sweetheart just out of high school. One day we were printing a rush job for the senior partner for a VIP client who was waiting in a conference room. Of COURSE the printer stopped part way. So we called for Alexis who came running in. The senior partner standing there fuming said can you fix this? She said Yep! Then proceeded to start dancing and singing in front of the plotter: “oh Edmund, my Edmund (her name for the printer” with jazz hands and high kicks… and the printer started up again. The look on the senior partner’s face still makes me laugh.
True story.
Oh, for video of that!
Must. Have. Background. Noise. It can be a show I’ve watched a billion times (as I do day job). An audiobook (same). Or music. But if there’s not noise in the background somewhere, stuff doesn’t get done, be it day job work or writing. It’s like my brain is connected to my ears.
I format as I type, so I set up keyboard shortcuts (Alt+1 for Heading 1 etc). The latest version of Word has the headings set up to shrink and expand – very annoying! So I’ve had to set up my own headings as defaults in the Normal template. I hate having to use other people’s computers because I can’t use my keyboard shortcuts, and I cannot think if I can’t format as I go.
I’m with you on Word. Use it all the time. BTW – just love the owl
I work in a hospital. We are superstitious. We do not say the S word (slow) or the Q word (quiet,) because if you do the ER will inevitably explode.
If someone says it, we make them knock on wood. (real wood, not particle board)
Hello my favorite authors,
You asked: “What weird quirks do you have in your professional life?”
I am a Network Engineer so I tend to talk with the equipment. I talked to routers, switches and specially firewalls. And when things go wrong, I tend to laugh.
I had a manager that once said to a bunch of new hires for our team: “Everything is fine until Maxie starts laughing. If you hear her laugh, run for the hills because sh** is about to hit the fan.”
Back when I wanted to be a writer, you had to submit manuscripts in Courier font. I hate Courier. I’d write in whatever font I wanted, then change just before printing (yes, printing) to mail (yes, mail) for submission.
Still a Word user. Styles are your friend. Change a style, change the whole document in one swell foop.
I work in metrology and calibration, when a piece of electronic equipment isn’t working properly we’ve been know to try the old ‘technical tap’ as a last resort. Technical tap- a small medium forced tap with ones hand to the upper left or right of the unit under test. Occasionally it works🤷
In the Navy I once had a Voltmeter that only worked properly with a technical tap…. we actually wrote out instructions to use a technician tap before taking readings on the Special Calibration sticker 😂 Now, the Voltmeter was from the 70’s and never actually used by anyone but us for its yearly calibration, we still thought we were pretty hilarious.
I have a rake rattle and a Cush ball that I rattle or throw and catch and that gives the computer time to fix itself. I love my Mac couldn’t live without it.