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| Figure 1 |
I’m not a pantser. Much. I have my complications worksheet which gives me a basic outline, and my character worksheets which give me a good idea of my characters’ quirks and attributes. I usually fill these out after I write the first three chapters. BUT (and it’s a great, big, hairy but) I am a closet pantser. I HATE doing the worksheets. Also, inevitably, once I’ve got them done, the story evolves organically. In technical terms, sh** happens.
It’s not so much that the plot changes. The story can take left turns while staying within the plot. The revelations change, and what I reveal (backstory, subplot, worldbuilding, character, stakes, etc.), and when I reveal it, will alter my readers’ perceptions of the story. I hate to stop writing to change all those worksheets, outlines, synopses or whatever. Ditto on revision.
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| Figure 2 |
I’ve tried Scrivener, yWriter, and various writing programs hoping to find an easier way. Unfortunately, Word’s track changes feature is still the industry standard for editing, so once the first draft is done, the specific writing tools are more headache than help. Import, export, cut, paste, blah, blah, rinse, repeat.
I wanted a way to do all my writerly housekeeping in Word, and just recently, I figured part of it out.
Are you ready? Ta daaaaa. You can use Word to automatically outline as you go, and automatically keep track of the information you reveal.
(Note: Click on the pictures to see better detail. I’ve kept them small here to conserve space.)
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| Figure 3 |
1. Start with an existing manuscript, so you have a chapter heading, and at least a chapter of text.
2. Select your Chapter 1 heading. Set it to [Heading 1] style using the style options displayed on your [Home] tab.
3. Using the [Paragraph] dialogue box (See Figure 1), specify that the style should be centered. Set your desired space above and below the paragraph. I use 240 pt above, and 30 pt below. (See Figure 2)
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| Figure 4 |
4. Then click on the [Line and Page Breaks] tab of the [Paragraph] dialogue box, and check the [Page Break before] option. (See Figure 3)
5. Set your font options according to your own preferences. (I use bold, Times New Roman 14 pt.) Right click on the newly-formatted Chapter 1 heading on your manuscript, and choose [Styles] – [Update Heading 1 style to match selection]. (See Figure 4)
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| Figure 5 |
6. To keep from having to renumber chapters as you make changes, let Word handle the chapter numbering for you. With your newly-formatted Chapter 1 heading selected, pull down the multi-level list icon (See Figure 5) on the Home tab. Choose the list option on the third line that starts with Chapter 1 Heading 1.
Now the next time you are ready to create a new chapter, all you need to do is hit the carriage return, and on the newly created line, change the style to Heading 1. Microsoft Word will automatically add your page break, line spacing, “Chapter” label, and the chapter number for you. If you delete a chapter, Word will automatically renumber the subsequent chapters.
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| Figure 6 |
7. Next, set Heading 2 to designate your scene breaks. Start a new paragraph. Add your break symbols (### or ***), select them, and set them to Heading 2 style. Center. Modify the paragraph settings to add an extra 12 pts above and below the paragraph. Apply the paragraph changes, then right click and choose [Styles] – [Update Heading 2 style to match selection].
8. Starting with Heading 3, change all the Heading styles to include the same [Normal] style characteristics as your main body text. To do this easily, just select a random piece of text. Set it to Heading 3 style. Apply the various font and paragraph changes, then right click and choose [Styles] – [Update Heading 3 style to match selection]. Repeat this process until all your headings look like your [Normal] style. Set your sample text back to [Normal].
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| Figure 7 |
9. Right click somewhere on the toolbar at the top of your Word document. Select [Customize Quick Access Toolbar]. (See Figure 6) In the leftmost pull down box, [Choose Commands From] pick [All Commands]. Scroll down until you see [Style Separator]. Click the [Add] button between the two boxes. (See Figure 7) If desired, move the new [Style Separator] command up to position it wherever you want it on your custom Quick Access Toolbar. It will look like two paragraph break symbols on the toolbar.
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| Figure 8 |
10. And now the outlining magic. As you write or edit, simply choose a heading level for any paragraph that contains information you want to track. You can apply a heading style to the whole paragraph, or by using the [Style Separator], to a single word or line.
To use the [Style Separator], while typing, just position your cursor where you want the new included section or word to start, and click the [Style Separator] button. When you finish the section, click the [Style Separator] button a second time. If you are editing, the easiest way to avoid confusing yourself with the way Word handles this is to add a temporary hard carriage return before the included information, then click the [Style Separator] button. It will automatically delete the carriage return. (Be sure you also add a carriage return at the end before you click the [Style Separator] a second time. This really threw me the first few times Word messed up my paragraphs!)
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| Figure 9 |
8. To see your outline, go to the [View] tab and click [Outline] mode. If you have set important text to Heading 3, set the outline to show only Level 3 (or 4 or whatever). You will see just the relevant data.
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Obviously, if you need to show this outline to your agent or editor, you’ll have some cleanup to do. But for keeping track of your plot and information, this is an easy way to keep yourself current on the fly.
In addition, if you insert a Table of Contents into your document, you can see the page number for all these different bits of information. You can even get fancy and color code your heading styles. Apply different heading levels (with color codes) to action, reaction, description, or whatever. You’ll be able to see pacing issues instantly and find where you’ve lingered too long on a scene or section at a glance. (If anyone is interested, I can cover more on the Table of Contents in another post.)
Phew. What do you think? Is this something you could use? What are your favorite tips or tricks for writing in Word? (And if you tell me how to set Word to automatically do a plotting board, I’ll kiss your feet AND send you free YA books!)
Happy outlining!
Martina
