New pasting shortcuts have been rolled out for working with Styles in MS Word 365. So if you’re used to the finger yoga for copying and pasting Styles, or for pasting “text only,” you’re going to have to revise your muscle memory. Gone is cmd + opt + shift + V to paste and match the new style, drop the shift from that sequence! Windows users, see the table below.
Continue reading Shortcut Changes for Format Copy–PastingCategory Archives: Word-Wrangling Wednesdays
Insert Ribbon Review: Pages Group

The Pages group* on the Insert ribbon is where to turn to instead of repeatedly hitting enter to start a new page. And it does more! Below you’ll find a roundup of posts explaining the best practices for using breaks specifically in an editorial production workflow. These posts build on top of the explanations and guides found in the multimedia guide to Editing In Word 365.
Continue reading Insert Ribbon Review: Pages GroupHome Ribbon Review: Styles Group

Styles is the Home ribbon group where some of Word’s mightiest power lies. Applying Styles is easy, but the tools they unlock are some of the best in Word. Below you’ll find a roundup of posts explaining the best practices for using Styles specifically in an editorial production workflow. These posts build on top of the explanations and guides found in the multimedia guide to Editing In Word 365.
Continue reading Home Ribbon Review: Styles GroupHome Ribbon Review: Paragraph Group

Rounding up posts on the third grouping on the Home ribbon includes one of the most powerful tools: the pilcrow button. Below you’ll find a roundup of posts relating to this grouping in Word’s ribbon, explaining the best practices of using those tools specifically in an editorial production workflow. These posts build on top of the explanations and guides found in the multimedia guide to Editing In Word 365.
Continue reading Home Ribbon Review: Paragraph GroupHome Ribbon Review: Font Group

Moving to the second grouping on the Home ribbon, we continue our roundup of posts relating to each part of Word’s ribbons, explaining the best practices of using them specifically in an editorial production workflow. These posts build on top of the explanations and guides found in the multimedia guide to Editing In Word 365.
Continue reading Home Ribbon Review: Font GroupHome Ribbon Review: Clipboard Group

Here we begin our roundup of posts relating to each part of Word’s ribbons, explaining the best practices of using them in specifically in an editorial production workflow. These posts build on top of the explanations and guides found in the multimedia guide to Editing in Word 365.
Continue reading Home Ribbon Review: Clipboard GroupNew Feature: Track Change “Cards”
Thanks, I hate it!
Word’s latest unecessary change is to make what’s it’s calling “cards” for every tracked change. They’re just a version of the pop-ups we used to have but with added memory-sucking action.
Continue reading New Feature: Track Change “Cards”Q&A: Why is my file locked for editing?
QI moved a file to another computer and Word says it’s locked for editing and won’t let me do anything with it!
Continue reading Q&A: Why is my file locked for editing?Brain Hacks for Editing Work That’s Too-Familiar
Whether it’s your own writing, the nth look-through, or you’re doing all of the editing stages on a file, there comes a time when your eyes just can’t see what’s actually on the page anymore. Your brain compensates and autocorrects; that is NOT what we’re hoping for! Refresh your eyes and see what’s actually on the page by using these “brain hacks” that “special education” teachers shared with me. The audio below explains how and why these hacks work:
Continue reading Brain Hacks for Editing Work That’s Too-FamiliarUsing ChatGPT to Write Wildcard Searches

Over on the Right Angels and Polo Bears blog, I’ve been testing the hot new AI out for editing. While it’s true that generative pretrained translators (GPTs) are advancing so fast that my post may be out of date by the time I edit it, the verdict remains that AI isn’t ready to take over copyediting jobs. In this post I find it can’t even write a useful Find & Replace sequence using wildcards. I’m sad about that, because writing those can be a brain twister!
Continue reading Using ChatGPT to Write Wildcard Searches