NaNoWriMo is upon us, and while I'm not taking part this year, I am going to use the premise of NaNo to set an almost impossible goal for myself for November. By the end of the month I will have my 85,000 word manuscript revised to 60,000 words. Much of the revision entails new writing, because ...anytime you change something at the beginning of a novel, it has a ripple effect, much like dominoes falling.
It also means I'll be sitting at a computer for hours, just as the NaNoers, but I'll be cutting and pasting and rewriting. I thought I would share a few of the computer shortcuts I use to eliminate having to use a mouse every time I want to change something.
I was astonished to learn lately that many writers know nothing of these shortcuts. If they want to cut, copy or paste, they use the mouse to highlight, then they go up to the little scissors or the double pages and click. Doing it this way, not only wastes time, it adds to stress on your wrist, fingers, and shoulder. Word (I am assuming most people use Word) has a list of shortcuts posted on their website. The site includes shortcuts for all Microsoft products. Mac users can find shortcuts at the Apple site.
Here are a few of the shortcuts I use all the time: (Capitals aren't necessary, and you'll find the CTRL buttons on either end of your keyboard. They have an asterisk on them)
- CTRL S = SAVE
- CTRL X = CUT
- CTRL C = COPY
- CTRL V = PASTE
- CTRL P = PRINT
- CTRL A = HIGHLIGHT ALL
- CTRL E = CENTER
- CTRL R = ALIGN RIGHT
- CTRL L = ALIGN LEFT
- CTRL W = CLOSE
- CTRL F = SEARCH
- CTRL G = GO TO
- CTRL B = BOLD
- CTRL I = ITALICS
- CTRL U = UNDERLINE
These aren't all the shortcuts available; the rest you can find at the websites listed above. I hope this will help as you work on your projects, and one more thing--be sure to sit straight, to take breaks and...but that's another blog. Oh, and the photo at the top? It has nothing to do with the post, but the tree is down the street from me and I thought I'd share it.
Pat Trainum
www.lovefaithandmurder.com
www.ptbradley.com
http://mbtponderers.blogspot.com/
Follow me @PTBradley1
I asked God to teach me patience and He gave me a book to write
www.lovefaithandmurder.com
www.ptbradley.com
http://mbtponderers.blogspot.com/
Follow me @PTBradley1
I asked God to teach me patience and He gave me a book to write
19 comments:
Word shortcuts...use them all the time, Pat. Can't write without them. Thanks for the reminder.
Neither can I. Thanks for stopping by Cheryl!
Love using shortcuts!
Absolutely, Patricia! They are wrist-savers. Thanks for stopping by.
There are shortcuts? :) Wow, I guess, until now, I've fallen in that "majority" category. No more. Thanks for sharing, Pat!
Yep ... I'm one of those "there are shortcuts?" people too. But, thanks to you and this post, I'm not anymore! Posting this over my desk!
Beth and Jeanne,
If you will use these shortcuts, it will make life so much simpler!
I forgot to add that when you use Ctrl X, you can then use Ctrl V to paste what you cut.
I also knew there were shortcuts, but I've never used them. Thanks for posting this, Pat. Maybe this old dog can learn a few new tricks.
Sandra Robbins
I really needed this. I only recently learned how to cut and paste with shortcuts on my laptop. I was stumped how to do that without a mouse, but I knew my kids were doing it all the time. Thanks to your post, I'm going to learn more of them!
Ctrl-x, Ctrl-c and Ctrl-v are for sure my best shortcut friends. Thanks for such a helpful post, Pat! :)
Sandra, I promise it's not that hard! It just has to become a habit. Lol. Thanks for stopping by.
Roxanne, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to get in the habit of using these shortcuts.
Melissa, somehow I knew you'd be a shortcut girl. Lol
Hey Pat! This is a fabulous list of shortcuts.
Press Shift and the down/up/side arrow and you can move anything you want all at once.
Thanks for sharing the short-cut love!!!
Thanks, Pat! I do use quite a few of those, but there were some new ones for me too.
Hey Teri, great to see you! I'm glad I could add to your list.
Ooh! Wonderful things to know! Anything to make the revision process a tad less time consuming. Thanks for sharing!
You are quite welcome, Nisa! And thanks for stopping by.
Kathy, thanks! I didn't know that one. I'll try it out right now. And thanks for stopping by.
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