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The Perils of Updating Your Word Processing Software
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Very true. I have been using a 2010 copy of Word knowing full well that I purchased a licence for 2013. Turns out I have both installed on my laptop. (I didn't think you could run two versions on the same machine.) I dread to think what would happen if I had to rework an already published story. But I am going to continue with 2013 now I've found it.
Amy wrote: "Very true. I have been using a 2010 copy of Word knowing full well that I purchased a licence for 2013. Turns out I have both installed on my laptop. (I didn't think you could run two versions on t..."I didn't think that upgrading the text to the newer version of Word would have done what it did to the pagination . . . but it really blew things up. Now that I know, I'll save corrections to older files in older versions of Word, a feature that is available with MS Word.
I'm not surprised at anything Word does any more. I couldn't even get my 2010 copy to spell check consistently in UK English. Despite my default settings it would revert to US English. I use more "u" and "s" in my writing!You would however assume it would leave the pagination alone.
Amy wrote: "I'm not surprised at anything Word does any more. I couldn't even get my 2010 copy to spell check consistently in UK English. Despite my default settings it would revert to US English. I use more "..."You would think! (re the pagination). I can always tell when I have to stop and clean out my temporary memory...Word starts to act really strange. It's like the canary in the coal mine.
I've found that Word really does not like Grammarly. Those two things combined can grind my laptop to a halt and I ended up with random text errors over the course of a weekend. It means I can't write at the weekends I am away from home. Well I can, I just have to remember to not use Grammarly.
Anna Faversham wrote: "Thanks, Theo. Worrying."I wouldn't worry...just be consistent in your use of versions...and if you change, either save in the previous version or check carefully to ensure the upgrade hasn't changed something, as it did in my case.
Alex wrote: "@Theodore, I'm sure the problem would not have been whether the chapters started on an odd or even page, I have chapters that start on both because I refuse to have blank pages just to make a chapt..."Most novels I've ever read from a legacy publisher had chapters starting on the odd-numbered pages. (Pick one up an take a look.) To ignore this style would screw up the two headers I use (my name and the name of the book, the former on the even-numbered pages, that latter on the odd-numbered pages). I guess you could start chapters on both odd- and even-numbered pages, but then, you'd have to figure out a different header schema.
The only paperback I have within reach of where I write is an ancient 1979 copy of Alan Dean Foster's Alien, printed in Glasgow. It has chapters starting on both pages. I've done the same thing. (It also doesn't have ruddy great 9" by 6" pages either, but I'm not losing more money just to shrink pages to what I would consider a "normal" paperback size.)
Do we pay for any blank pages? I've never figured that out because I've never included any just in case.
Well in that case, it's a penny a page, regardless of whether it has text on it. So, no blank pages for me.
Shoot yourself (;>) Yes, you do end up with some blank pages, but I like the uniformity and the header schema I've been using. You pays your money, you takes your choice.
I'll add another issue. Updates! I was designing an illustrated children's book in Publisher. I exported the file to create the PDF and everything went fine. I uploaded to CS without any issues. I started to work on the hardback version which required an upload to Ingram. I couldn't use the interior PDF from the CS load as I had to change the ISBN number on the copyright page. When I attempted to export the file I got an error message that Publisher could not save the file. Now just a week before everything was fine, now all of a sudden, I couldn't save anything as a PDF. I spent hours and hours researching the problem, tried different solutions that I found on line. Nothing worked. I had a very real problem as I could not load my client's book. I finally came across a short article on the Microsoft website that addressed printers. If the default printer is set to the Microsoft printer, the PDF function might not work. I realized that just before I started having the problem, I updated my Office Suite program. It changed the default to the Microsoft printer. Once, I changed back to my printer, I had my PDF function back.
Anita wrote: "I'll add another issue. Updates! I was designing an illustrated children's book in Publisher. I exported the file to create the PDF and everything went fine. I uploaded to CS without any issues. I ..."Another in a never-ending list of tips to tuck away. Thanks.
But when I resubmitted the revised text to CS for approval, back it came, UNAPPROVED. The problem: incorrect pagination.
What? Sure enough, not only did some of the chapters now start on even pages, but also, the page numbers near the end, in a separate section, had jumped by more than 200. What was going on?
The problem lay in the purchase of a new computer and attendant software in late 2015. This resulted in my now using a new version of MS Word. So, when I now saved the corrected version of the book, the computer upgraded the text to the newer version of Word.
Truth be told, I was given the option of saving the file in an earlier version of Word, and, on hindsight, I should have done so. But, after an hour’s work (and the loss of a few hairs), the problem was resolved.
Please take note of this the next time you rework a manuscript. Be careful when saving files to ensure you don’t accidentally incur problems by your having changed versions of the word processing program you’re using.