“It is a mistake that there is no bath that will cure people’s manners, but drowning would help.”
--Mark Twain
If your characters are anything like mine, they’re probably rude little suckers. I’m talking about interrupting or being interrupted. You know, that little thing where the dialogue ends like this:
“Did you just—”
If your characters are rude or rudely interrupted often, you may come across this little problem in MS Word:
“Did you just—“
Oh! Did you see it? The Reverse Flip! That’s right! The quotation marks that are flipped the wrong way! Want to know a quick fix? Instead of going back every time to add in the proper around of hyphens, try this instead:
In Microsoft Word (2003) open up one of your documents that has the correct quotation marks with hyphens (or copy this —”) and copy just the hyphens and the correct ending quotation marks. Then go to TOOLS and then AUTOCORRECT OPTIONS. You’ll see a little box that says “Replace text as you type.” Make sure that lil’ sucker is checked. Beneath it are some empty boxes that say REPLACE: and WITH:
For my own ease, I put three hyphens in the REPLACE: box. You can choose whatever keys you’d like to use but I find that since I’m already typing hyphens, I might as well just use three of them. In the WITH: box, just hit ctrl V (which is the quick key for “paste”) and your correct hyphens and quotation marks should be inside. Hit the OKAY button and VOILA! You’re done!
From that point onward, you should be able to just use your three little hyphens to produce the perfect interruption! No more wasting time and energy just to cut people off. Do it in style! Join me and talk over those you love!
“Any questions? Feel free to email me. It’s on the sidebar. In the mean time, please feel free to interrupt whenever you—”
11 comments:
Nice! What a great idea. I'll use that one for sure. I LOVE AUTOCORRECT!
- Chas
http://chas.willowrise.com
I love autocorrect. Why? Well, the next time your co-worker/friend/relative leaves there computer unlocked, roll your chair over to their desk, and change their autocorrect options in Word to automatically 'fix' their name to 'Stinky Fluffy Pants'. Make sure you leave everything else the way you found it, and then just sit back and wait. It's great family fun without all the expense!
I freaking hate AutoCorrect! What a misnomer! Oughta call it "AutoBuggerUp" 'cause it seems to always take exactly what I need to say and replace it with whatever it decides, using a digital dartboard and a pint of cyber-liquor. Thanks for digging this up for me, I'll definitely be using it!
I have never noticed this!!
Spiffy! Thanks for the tip you clever girl!
Hmmmm, I'm willing to bet (I have been using that phrase a lot lately) that reading Miss D Two with all my rude interrupting characters made you think of this .. ..(thanks for chapter two! I just haven't had a chance to look at it yet)
Oh my gosh, that's freaking brilliant!
Those reverse-flip quotation marks make me want to bust some Ninja karate kung fu stuff on 'em. Now I can. Thanks for the scoop!
I love little tricks like this!
I love your wit.
The end made me giggle. I tried to push "Add a flourish" before I finished reading so I could properly interrupt your post :)
You are so clever. I don't use Word, but I do have characters who interrupt.... (Of COURSE, because I DO!)
Love hearing from you!
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