TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Paragraph spacing in Word From:"Steve Hudson" <steve -at- wright -dot- com -dot- au> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 16 Jan 2002 12:54:55 +1100
Para spacing + word = mess.
Numero uno - upon page breaking there are a number of settings that vie to
alter the spacing.
Numero duo - as I use my styles in tables, I use 3pt before and 3pt after,
rather than 6 after.
Numero Tres - Heading spacing. Yes well, my workaround is to reverse the
functionality :-) We were given spacing to avoid blank paras in between...
forget that. Knock off (6 for spacing, 10 for 10pt font) at least 16 pts
(depending on the built-in leading in the body text font) from the space
before on your headings, and insert a blank para of body text between each
Body Text -> Heading change.
Of course, modern writing techniques mean one should always have a chunk of
text under a heading.
Eg
Ch 1 - How to Write Reel Good
Writing With Conviction
should become
Ch 1 - How to Write Reel Good
This chapter explains basic writing techniques in order to train the
Sanjay's of the world.
Writing With Conviction
Whether writing the Sanjay's Patented Tora Tora Zombification Process or a
Potter sequel, ...
Steve Hudson , HDK List MVP
Principal Technical Writer
Wright Technologies Pty Ltd (Aus)
EyeSpring - the future of graphics has been created.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwriter -at- supalife -dot- com
Between paragraphs Word adds the 'space below' the top one and the 'space
above' the next one. (That's my half answer from the archives!) Usually this
is fine, but what looks good for normal paragraphs (eg Heading1 > Body,
Heading2 > Body, Heading2 > Body etc) looks just plain daft where there are
two Headings together (Heading1 > Heading2 > Body). Likewise what looks good
when there are two or more reasonably spaced headings together doesn't leave
enough space where there is one heading only.
I've experimented with making all the spacing above and none below and vice
versa but without luck.
I can work round this for myself by making two Heading1s (one with space
below
and one without) etc but I'm trying to create templates for everyone in the
business to use for just about everything (only about 10, 000 people in the
UK
and a similar number throughout (the rest of) Europe...), so they have to be
(ahem) idiot-proof...
Do any of you have a solution? Or ideas? As soon as I get this done I can
get
back to writing technical documentation....
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
