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Use Shift + Enter when you want to force a line break, not create a new
paragraph. One example:
Name [Shift + Enter]
Address [Shift + Enter]
City, ST ZIP [Enter]
Why do the above? The style for the above may be set up with spacing
after of 24 pts; you don't want 24 pts after each line, just after the
paragraph. Also, the entire chunk can be viewed as just one paragraph.
It's important in Word to understand the "chunks" - the objects (or
containers) - such as paragraphs, sections, and the big container, the
document itself.
Empty paragraphs (in Word) are a sloppy manual method to add spacing
between paragraphs. It's a habit brought forward from using a
typewriter, and (IMO) it reflects on poorly structured Word training
(I've used and taught Word since Word 1.1, mostly in law firms and large
corporations, and am amazed at how much training starts off with "Type a
paragraph. Press Enter. Press Enter again." Geesh!).
Will every Word document with empty paragraphs one day seize up and
croak? :-) No. But learning to think through, create, and use styles is
an absolute must if you want 1) the chance to work with well structured
Word documents and 2) to be able to claim you are proficient in Word.
There's much more to best practices and proficiency in Word, depending
upon what you produce in Word. But that's enough for now. :-)
Anne Cornwell
-----Original Message-----
From:
techwr-l-bounces+anne -dot- cornwell=drakesoftware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+anne -dot- cornwell=drakesoftware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot-
com] On Behalf Of Shannon Wade
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 9:25 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: (no subject)
Hello all. Here's what I posted (via Michelle) yesterday:
OK, here's an interesting one. I've done some looking in the archives
and find nothing that's exactly what I want. I'm wondering if anyone has
heard about using the "shift + enter" option to reduce the number of
paragraph marks appearing in a document. I can find all kinds of
information telling me that I shouldn't have paragraph marks with no
attached text, but nothing that tells me what happens if I do have them.
So what does happen? I know that corruption is often stored in paragraph
marks, but everything I find talks about that occuring in the final
paragraph mark of a document. Can anyone shed some light on this? I get
the digest version, so if I don't respond immediately, please accept my
apologies.
What I'm trying to do is to get some information on why it might benefit
me to remove so-called "blank" paragraph marks from my document. I have
one co-worker that says her research indicates it reduces corruption. I
have another co-worker that says our use of styles (something we ARE NOT
going to give up) is what causes the corruption. All my research
indicates that, yes, paragraph marks do tend to hold the corrupt
information. However, everything I read says that it is usually the
final paragraph mark that causes the problem. But I also read that you
should not have blank paragraphs. Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't
have blank paragraphs or shed ANY light on the other issue?
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