Ten Things Everyone Should Know about Word Processing

Word processors are great tools but can be frustrating to those who don't know how to use them efficiently. I have a list of 10 things I think everyone should know about word processing.  Do you know all 10?

1. Use the Enter key ONLY after at the end of a paragraph or when you need a blank line.
• Word processors automatically wrap text so there is no need to press enter at the end of the line.
• There is a line spacing function in word processors that can be used to double space a paper. 
2. Use the Space Bar Correctly.
• Use only one space between words.
• There is no space between a word and the puctuation that follows. 
• Use one space after all punctuation marks.
• Use the Tab key to indent for paragraphs.
3. Save Your Work Frequently! 
• Save every 5-7 minutes. You never know when a computer can freeze or crash.
4. Spell check all your work.
• This won't catch the use of a wrong word but it will catch spelling errors.
• Spelling errors make the user appear lazy.
5. There is a "Best Font" for your work.  
• Arial, Tahoma, Georgia are very readable fonts (there are many more.) Save the fun, crazy fonts for the fun, crazy documents you make for your friends.
6. Don't use the Caps Lock key to capitalize one letter. 
• USE THE CAPS LOCK KEY WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY!
• Writing in all caps indicates you are yelling. Don't give your audience the wrong impression.
7. Use the correct text alignment.  Left align is what should be used almost all the time.
• Left alignment with ragged right edges is the most commonly used. It should always be used for the body of your paper.
• Center alignment is used for poetry, announcements, invitations, and short sections of text.
• Right alignment creates a special effect. Remember that right alignment means the text is tight against the right margin.
• Justified text will cover the width of a page, but it will also change spacing in order to do that. It often cuts down on the number of words that will fit on a line and sometimes makes large bodies of text look “darker” or crowded.
8. Two fonts at most in a document.
• With rare exceptions a document should never have more than two font styles.
• Along those lines most fonts are easiest to read in sizes or 10 to 14.
9. Learn to adjust the margins.
• Sometimes you want the document on one page. Adjust font size and margins to fit.
10. Use Print Preview before you print. Printing should be done when your document is perfect.