Word for professional writer

Microsoft Word is a simple program that is used to create all kinds of documents. Whether you need a professional-looking document for work or just creating a school project, Microsoft Word is a perfect choice.

Although the majority of Microsoft Word tutorials and guides are geared towards productivity, not many of them cover the aspect of creative writing.

Microsoft Word is packed with a plethora of amazing features, and while most of those features make Word seem like the perfect program for business settings, it works equally great for creative writers.

1. Learn About Article Structure

If you do not know how to structure your article properly, everything will look like a mess. This can be a challenge for creative writers, especially with broad subjects.

However, there is a structure that you can easily follow. Always start with an announcement of the overall theme or topic.

Then proceed to the introduction of the topic, the presentation, and the conclusion. If you need help creating structured reports and documents in Word, you can check out this article.

2. Keyboard Shortcuts Are Useful

One of the first things you should learn is the keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Word. You can improve your productivity a lot by using shortcuts, as this allows you to focus more on creative writing than formatting and other things.

3. Enhance Your Vocabulary

How often do you use Google to find synonyms of words that you want to use in your document? Well, did you know that Word has that feature already? All you have to do is select the word, right-click on it, and select Synonyms from the drop menu, as is shown below.

In addition, you should also learn more about the Researcher toolset. Most of us like to use Google when writing an article, whether you are trying to gather some information or make your document seem richer.

With the Researcher toolset, you can easily search up all kinds of information, and use filters to find higher quality content.

4. Text-to-Speech Is Quite Helpful

If you spent all day answering emails, creating presentations, and writing documents, you are probably tired. But if you aren’t feeling like typing, and you need to make some documents, you should check out the Dictation feature in Word.

This feature works effortlessly; you can talk to your computer and type what you are saying. This is an Office add-in for not only Microsoft Word but also PowerPoint and Outlook. You can learn more about this tool on Microsoft’s official website.

One thing you should keep in mind is that if you are using Dictation to write your documents, it is always a good idea to check what you wrote before submitting the document.

Dictation does not always work, as some of us might hope, which can also depend on your microphone. Checking your document will ensure that you correct all the avoidable mistakes.

On top of being able to use Dictation, you have the ability to review your article with Read Aloud option.

It does not matter how many times we re-read our articles, it is common to overlook some basic mistakes. With the Read Aloud option, you can hear what you typed out loud, thus catch mistakes a lot easier.

5. Check Your Grammar

While we are on the topic of avoidable mistakes, Microsoft Word does a great job checking your grammar. It always has. But, with the newest updates, you have a lot more options to check out.

All you have to do is click on File>Options and select Proofreading. You can see the pictures below.

From this many, you can select whatever you want. You can choose to have your document corrected as you type, check your grammar and style, or hide your spelling errors in case you are not writing in English.

There are advanced options as well, where you can add your own dictionary, correct mistakes you often make, etc.

6. Pay Attention to Your Word Count

The length of an article should depend on what you are writing about and your target audience. So what is the ideal length of an article? The longer the content, the more shares it will get. Studies have shown that posts that are over 3000 words long do well.

However, when your topic is not broad enough to cover 3000 words, it’s always better to write shorter, more direct articles instead. Luckily for you, Word will keep track of the number of words as you write them. You can also select a sentence/paragraph to see how many words it has.

7. Autosave Your Work

As writers, we all want to make sure that we have backups for our backups. One of the worst things that can happen is to lose hours of work in just a second, which you can avoid.

Microsoft Word allows you to set up the AutoRecover option, which will also autosave your document. This means that if your document suddenly closes, Microsoft Word will recover your document for any number of reasons.

8. Create Notes for Yourself

It does not matter if you are working with an editor or you are editing the document by yourself, creating comments is a good way to keep yourself up-to-date. Sometimes, we just have too many things to deal with, and it is easy to forget important things.

For example, if you are unsure about something that you wrote and would like to get back to it a bit later, writing comments to that section of the document will help you remember later.

Creative Writing Is Simple if You Know What You Are Doing

There are many simple guidelines you can follow in order to make your creative writing assignments easier. Of course, a lot of this will depend on the topic or theme that you are covering.

With that said, things, such as the Dictation option where you can talk to your computer and have everything typed out automatically, can always come in handy!

It’s easy as a writer to fall into the trap of shiny new toys. There’s an endless number of book writing software programs claiming to be the best at one thing or another, from Microsoft Word to Scrivener to Vellum—and the list goes on and on.

They flash their sexy features at you and promise to be the very thing you need to become the writer you want to be. But sadly, these programs will not make you into the writer you want to be. They offer the world, but often only take your time.

That’s why I would like to offer a defense for using the industry book writing software standard, Microsoft Word.

The Secret to Choosing the Right Book Writing Software

In chapter seven of his leadership classic, Good to Great, Jim Collins addresses the issue of new technology and how businesses should use them. (Before you say that this doesn’t apply to you because you are not running a business, if you are publishing what you write in hopes of someday making money, then you have started a small business, and Collins’s book has loads of wisdom for you.)

When it comes to technology, Collins says that truly great companies understand how and when to embrace shiny new toys. “Good to great organizations,” Collins says, “think differently about technology and technological change than mediocre ones.”

While the average company seeks to use every new technology that arises to solve their problems, great companies use technology as “an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it.”

Pause for a moment and ask yourself, what does it take to become a great writer?

Like mastering any skill, becoming a great writer takes discipline, focus, intentionality, and hours upon hours of practice.

• Scrivener may be a wonderful tool for dividing up book chapters and helping you organize information, but it is not going to put your butt in the chair and help you bang out those words.
• Vellum may be a wonderful tool for formatting, but it is not going to hammer out chapter after chapter until your plot holes are full.
• While Grammarly may spot potential errors for you, it will not wake you up early before work so you can write and keep you up late at night until the manuscript is finished.

This is what Collins means when he says technologies should be used as an accelerant, not a momentum creator. If you aren’t already putting in the hard work to be the kind of writer you want to be, it doesn’t matter what new writing software you invest in. It is not going to help.

In fact, often new technologies can be a distraction. Each writing software program has its quirks. When we switch to something new, we have to invest time in learning how to use it. Not only are we trying to master the craft of writing, we are trying to master new tech as well. And if we are always chasing the new thing hoping it will make us into the writers we want to be, then we will exponentially slow our progress as writers.

So what is a new writer to do? If the fancy programs aren’t going to solve your problems, where should you turn?

3 Invaluable Strengths of Microsoft Word

When you are learning the daily discipline of writing, I recommend using Microsoft Word for three simple reasons. (In a recent article comparing Scrivener to Word, Joe Bunting explained the strengths of Word. I recommend you go back and look at the reasons he laid out as they make my case for the software. I will do my best not to repeat his arguments.)

1. Word Is the Foundation

Microsoft Word is the standard all the other programs are built on. Word was one of the first writing software programs on the scene, which means it set the tone for the features programs need to have, and it continues to do so. As Microsoft Word goes through evolutions, the other writing software programs follow suit.

Therefore, if you can master Word, you can master any of the others because you understand where they are coming from.

When you are developing the daily discipline of writing, you might as well do it on a program that is going to help you graduate to something else in the future. Once you understand your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, you can then make a decision about what specialized technology you need to master. And if you have learned how to be a writer on Word, you will easily make a jump to something else because its creators had Word in mind when they made it.

2. Word Is Common Among Non-Writers

When I finish a book, the first thing I do is send it to beta-readers. Before I publish it, I need fresh eyes on it. Because I have written it in Word, anyone can read it.

While fancy book writing software programs might be popular among writers, Word is the standard for professionals. It’s in every university. It’s at almost ever business. Even if a business isn’t using Word, they have a way to convert and read Word documents.

Being able to attach your book to an email and send it off to a friend for a second opinion is invaluable. Word allows you to do that simply, without hassle.

Additionally, if you turn on the “Track Changes” feature, Word allows those readers to review your work without making permanent changes to the document. When they return the book to you, you won’t have to search it for changes. They will be marked and ready for you to accept or reject.

3. Every Platform Accepts Word

I’ve used Word to write and “publish wide” three novels, two short stories, and four compilations with other authors. This week, in fact, I published a new short story using Amazon KDP, Kobo Writing Life, and Draft to Digital. While each platform wants something a little different, all three distribution platforms will accept a document I can create with Microsoft Word.

When you do finish your work and it is time to distribute, Word has what you need to get the job done.

Choose Wisely

While other book writing software programs might have flashy features that promise to make you an incredible writer, until you’ve built the habits and disciplines you need as a writer, until you know your strengths and weaknesses, don’t be lured in by their siren song. Rather, learn to be a writer on the industry standard.

Those other programs will only accelerate what you are currently doing. They won’t create new momentum. If you can publish with Microsoft Word, then the other programs will feel familiar when you are ready to try something new.

If you’re looking for programs to accelerate your writing, check out our list of the Top 10 Pieces of Software for Writers (hint: Microsoft Word is #6!).

Do you use Microsoft Word for your writing? What makes it useful for you? Let us know in the comments.