This is no ordinary MS Word course. This course skips all the features that editors don’t need (like mail merge) and shows you how to use the features for best results within an editing workflow. This is a guide specifically for editors, by a senior editor who knows how we work, and knows there’s a better way. In this “essentials” course we get right to the tools editors can’t live without; the tools that make our job easier and faster, as determined by a survey of industry pros. We need to know about the tools that are the very reason that Word is the unavoidable standard in publishing. 

TIP: Click the “Curriculum” tab to see all of the topic and the learning plan.

The other thing that sets this course apart are the video demos and links to relevant blog posts that offer practical perspectives. In the videos, the instructor — a full-time editor working onscreen for major publishers and international corporations since 1997 — shows you how to use the tools, and where to find them in the current version of Word (continually updated for both Mac and Windows). YouTube captions aid accessibility for the hearing impaired but there is not yet support for people with visual impairments.

You will learn by reading, by seeing, and by doing the self-check exercises. There are integrated instructions and two sets of accompanying videos: one for Mac users and one for Windows. Links to videos are found in each lesson. The videos are a feature of this course and are protected by the same copyrights. To complete this course:

• read the modules in the downloaded resource
• watch the videos
• do the self-check exercises

Tools, not Editing

Concentrate on the tools, not the editing. Remember that this course is not teaching or assessing editing skills and grammar. Do not fret over “editing right.” You can even markup nonsense, as you will see the instructor do in the demos. The point is to practice using Word’s tools.

What Next

Download the resource in the next “lesson” and read the Preface and How To Use this Resource. Each week, check back on this course page for the readings we’ll do and the related demo videos and optional further reading.