Word Processor Skills

Like it or not, we live in the electronic age. This brings with it certain advantages and disadvantages over what college writing was like in the past. Gone are the days when the only means to type an essay were on bulky electric typewriters in library basements because of the intense noise they produced. Typing on one of these machines was tedious. There were no font choices. The only extant font was courier. All formatting had to be done manually: Headers typed on every page, page numbers, and word wrap did not exist (though the better typewriters would beep to let you know you were near the edge of the page so you could move to the next line or quickly hyphenate your word). If a single mistake was made, you had to rip out the sheet and type it again.

Today's computers, internet, and printers come with their own challenges: Document file formats, too many font choices, document styles, images, graphics, watermarks, tables, charts, and endless numbers of features can overwhelm. And let's not even mention printer and email difficulties.

Unfortunately, there's a harsh truth in all of this. As students, it's your responsibility to learn your word processor. You are responsible for completing assignments as instructed, and difficulties with the technology are not a valid excuse. So in addition to learning how to write, argue, and analyze, you must also learn how to use your word processor. Many of these features actually make essay writing easier, taking the hassle out of such tasks as headers and page numbers. Below is a list of features you must know how to use.

• Line spacing
• Page spacing
• Insert a page break
• Disable widowing/orphaning
• Margins
• Font selection
• Hanging indent
• Headers
• Insert footnote
• Page numbers
• Word count
• Spell check
• Save as different file format

Your best, first source of information on these features is within your word processor's own help. Searching for these terms should turn up useful information. You can also consult the internet and workers in campus computer labs for more help.

I strongly encourage everyone to experiment and search out how to do employ these features before you have need of them. Trying to figure out these features in the late hours of the night before an essay is due is not the time to learn about your word processor.