switching from MS Office Word-->MS Office & Student 2010 question.

[Gregg Bell]

Hey. I've written all my novels on MS Office Word 2003. Now I just got MS Office Home and Student 2010. Is there anything I need to know about opening my MS Office Word 2003 novels in MS Office Home and Student 2010? Will the transition change the styles or the way I would make an e-book, anything you can think of.

Thanks

[Toxaris]

Well, with the 2010 version you can use my HTML export macro...

Kidding aside, your documents will open normally.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Well, with the 2010 version you can use my HTML export macro...

Kidding aside, your documents will open normally.

Thanks Toxaris. I want to use your macro someday! I tried to before but I didn't know enough about how to use it properly. Can I reserve the right to ask you some questions about it when I give it another go?

[Toxaris]

Of course! Ask away!

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Of course! Ask away!

Thanks man.

[exaltedwombat]

Originally Posted by bearstardiode

Hey. I've written all my novels on MS Office Word 2003. Now I just got MS Office Home and Student 2010. Is there anything I need to know about opening my MS Office Word 2003 novels in MS Office Home and Student 2010? Will the transition change the styles or the way I would make an e-book, anything you can think of.

Thanks

"MS Office Home and Student 2010" is a bundle of programs, including the (almost) latest version of Word. They've messed up the user interface with an obtrusive Ribbon instead of the old menus. But everything is still there, and a few neat new things as well!

If you're writing novels from scratch, there's a lot to be said for writing straight into Sigil. If you don't add a lot of unnecessary formatting in the first place, there will be no issues about converting it. The little that IS required - basic paragraph styles, chapter headings etc. are easily added by a stylesheet in Sigil. Start clean, stay clean. Simples.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by exaltedwombat

"MS Office Home and Student 2010" is a bundle of programs, including the (almost) latest version of Word. They've messed up the user interface with an obtrusive Ribbon instead of the old menus. But everything is still there, and a few neat new things as well!

If you're writing novels from scratch, there's a lot to be said for writing straight into Sigil. If you don't add a lot of unnecessary formatting in the first place, there will be no issues about converting it. The little that IS required - basic paragraph styles, chapter headings etc. are easily added by a stylesheet in Sigil. Start clean, stay clean. Simples.

Thanks exaltedwombat. That's excellent advice. I'm just so darned used to Word. But yeah, composing in Sigil it would be clean from the get-go. And I'm sure I could get use to composing there. Thanks. Appreciate the wise feedback.

[exaltedwombat]

Word encourages you to think in terms of fixed page layout. So much eBook frustration and unnecessary work results from a reluctance to let go of this concept.

If you're the author, start with the eBook. Then, if there's going to be a printed version, drop the text into Word (or whatever) and play page-designer to your heart's content, where it will make some difference!

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by exaltedwombat

Word encourages you to think in terms of fixed page layout. So much eBook frustration and unnecessary work results from a reluctance to let go of this concept.

If you're the author, start with the eBook. Then, if there's going to be a printed version, drop the text into Word (or whatever) and play page-designer to your heart's content, where it will make some difference!

Using Sigil as a word processor. It's a little different. A bigger screen (longer to get to the end of the line). No as-you-type spell checker or mispelling corrector, but there is of course the spell checker in the code, and to finish typing and see perfect paragraphs in the code, well, it was pretty exciting.

I'm not to the point of composing anything new yet, and I'm still kind of intrigued with Toxari's macro and Word. But for now, I'm thinking, why would I need styles or macros if the mss. is clean in Sigil already? I mean, all I've got is text. No tables, footnotes, charts, videos.

Good to know about the ability to do a printed version too.

Thanks so much for the great advice.