This Week's Topic is: What word processing program do you use to write your manuscript, and can you share one handy trick you've learned in that program that has helped you while you write?
Well, my two old WIPs are waiting patiently where I left them...which is in Google Docs (now Google Drive, I guess?) I love Google Docs because I can access it from wherever I am. The first WIP was a project I started when I did NaNoWriMo with my 6th graders, so I chose Google Docs because I knew I would want to write from my home and work computers about equally.
Recently, though, I haven't been writing so much. I have been beta-reading, though, and that's where Google Docs has really come in handy. I get a copy of the MS in Google Docs, and I can add comments (just like in Word or OpenOffice)--and then the author can respond to the comments, which triggers an email to me, so I know to look back at that spot. Or, if it's a quick little thing (typo, punctuation, whatever) the author can fix it up and mark the comment as "resolved" and it goes away. It's cleaner and simpler than emailing pages back and forth with comments. There's even a chat function built right in, which I've used once or twice if we both happen to be logged in at the same time. (I'm not sure about people's familiarity with Docs/Drive--I don't have time to make a how-to screencast right now, but if you're interested, let me know! I can easily throw one together in the next week or so!)
Huh, I never actually considered using Google Docs as my word processor... Somehow I didn't know it functioned that way. I think it would make me uneasy to have all my work online, which is of course irrational, because I email everything to myself anyway.
ReplyDeleteI do back up important things--I've heard horror stories of people getting their Google accounts hacked. But it's so convenient! And it autosaves and lets you go back to earlier versions, too--useful in crashes and/or when your cat walks all over your keyboard!
DeleteThis has been very handy. :) Quick question for you: is there a search and find function in Google docs? I've been wanting to make some of the changes you suggested, but it'll involve a major find and replace session. The weird thing is that I can't get Google Docs to work in Google Chrome (bizarre), only in Internet Explorer.
ReplyDeleteThat is bizarre! Is your version of Chrome up-to-date? It may want you to update to Google Drive--do you know if you've done that yet? It's essentially the same, but the interface changes a bit. You can do find and replace--it's the last think that comes up on the "edit" menu. You can also do CTRL-F (or CMD-F on a Mac) as a "find" shortcut, but that doesn't do find/replace.
DeleteBack in '08 (or should I say aught-eight and sound like a total geezer) I started a new job that was exclusively on the cloud. They drank the google kool-aid and there was no turning back.... until Day 3 when I told them they had to install Office on my computer or I would get nothing done. I promised I would learn google docs and I did. There were a million and two issues with the earlier versions and they've done a good job at correcting them. There are a lot of features I like about it, but I've switched jobs again and I only use it now for backing up my work and for occasional docs. I do the bulk of my writing with Word.
ReplyDeleteI used to just use it for backing stuff up--I think my earliest Google Doc is a play I wrote in '07 as an independent study; it drove me the kind of crazy that makes you find seventeen ways to back it up. But now I actually don't even have MS Office installed on my computer! If you told me that in college I would have laughed right in your face, but I've found that for the rare occasion Google Docs doesn't work, I can use Open Office (free!) and I'm good to go.
DeleteI don't think I realized you could get so fancy with the comments in Google docs. That is good to know. I really like how accessible they are. I've always just wished it had a feature like track changes. Sounds like it is getting closer.
ReplyDeleteI've never really used track changes, but I think it's pretty similar to Google Docs' "see revision history", which is in the middle of the file menu. It lets you look back at other versions (AND--as a teacher this was my favorite part--it lets you see who did what and when on a shared doc. So it was great for groupwork, because you could see who contributed what, and it was also good for catching copy/pasted plagiarism--oh, really, you wrote those five pages in fifteen minutes?) But it's also useful for single authors, as a track changes kind of function.
DeleteI do love that feature of Google Docs and the reply/comment thing has been VERY helpful in critiquing, but I've not used it with my most recent WIP. Not sure why, just have been a Word girl with the current project.
ReplyDeleteI just always had such a love-hate relationship with Word, I think, that I jumped at the chance to use something else. It was like a boyfriend that treated me badly but then bought really lovely flowers to make up for it--great some of the time, but ultimately exhausting.
DeleteBut maybe I'm just fickle...after all, I DO have that copy of Scrivener I bought with an App Store gift card...I just need to put in ten or twelve hours to learn how to use it!
Great tips. I'm going to have to try this next time I beta-read.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
DeleteIt worked very very well when you beta read my MS :D I loved loved loved being able to answer to comments right away and was waiting for those notifications :D (plus to back up very helpful!)
ReplyDeleteYou were the test case, so I'm glad it worked out so well! I got addicted to Google Docs through work and pretty much think it's the answer to everything.
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