Technology Tools for Writers
If you’re going to be spending a lot of time working with the
written word, it's well worth your time to learn the ins and outs of two
Microsoft programs: Word and Excel. Word does an excellent job of checking
grammar and spelling. It also contains a handy thesaurus. Excel is the
spreadsheet where you can store blocks of text that you might use again and
again (such as historical information about a particular local landmark). To
transfer text from Word to Excel and vice versa, simply use the copy tool (ctrl
+ C) and paste tool (ctrl + V).
Also, if you find yourself typing large blocks of text from
other sources into your documents, by all means buy a scanner and install text
recognition software. Then, instead of typing your
poor fingers to the bone, you can quickly scan the material you wish to copy and
then cut it and paste it into the document you select. Of course, you should
always beware of copyright infringement issues and behave accordingly.
