April 30 blog

A Step in the Write Direction

April 30, 2012

April is almost over. Have you met the goals you set for this month?

Note: I want this to be YOUR blog too, so if you have any writing questions you’d like to have answered, send them in and I’ll do my best to help you.

I’ve updated my Web site to include the new “Freedom of Letting Go” book. Go to www.thewritersfriend.net to see new information. I also FINALLY finished the mother/grandmother anthology and have sent it off to the publisher’s.

For those of you who have sent submissions for the Caregiver anthology and the one for parents who have lost a child, I do not yet have a publisher for either, but I’m keeping your submissions and emails on hand. (I have a Canadian publisher interested, but am looking for a Christian publisher in the States.)

THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

“Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees takes off his shoes—

The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning 

LAUGH FOR TODAY:

Church Football

• Quarterback Sneak - Church members quietly leaving during the invitation.
• Draw Play - What many children do with the bulletin during worship.
• Halftime - The period between Sunday school and worship when many choose to leave.
• Benchwarmer - Those who do not sing, pray, work or do anything but sit.
• Backfield-in-Motion - Making a trip to the back (restroom or water fountain) during the service.
• Staying in the Pocket - What happens to a lot of money that should be given to the Lord's work.
• Two-minute Warning - The point at which you realize the sermon is almost over and begin to gather up your children and belongings.
• Instant Replay - The preacher loses his notes and falls back on last week's illustrations.
• Sudden Death - What happens to the attention span of the congregation if the preacher goes "overtime."
• Trap - You're called on to pray and are asleep.
• End Run - Getting out of church quick, without speaking to any guest or fellow member.
• Blitz - The rush for the restaurants following the closing prayer.

WRITING TIPS:

I’m lazy and hate to use my mouse any more than necessary, so the following Microsoft Word shortcuts are very useful to me.

Microsoft Word Shortcuts

Following are some of the more widely-used shortcuts for Microsoft Word users:

Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection

Ctrl + C Copy selected text

Ctrl + S Save file

Ctrl + X Cut selected text

Ctrl + P Print

Ctrl + F Open find box

Ctrl + I Italicize highlighted section

Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection

Ctrl + V Paste

Ctrl + Y Redo the last action performed

Ctrl+ Z Undo the last action performed. (This shortcut is great when you don’t know what you did to cause that strange screen to pop up. It can also retrieve documents you’ve accidentally deleted if you haven’t done anything in between.)

Ctrl + L Aligns selected text to the left of the screen

Ctrl + E Center selected text

Ctrl + R Aligns selected text to the right of the screen

Ctrl + M Indent the paragraph

Ctrl + Home Moves cursor to beginning of document

Ctrl + End Moves cursor to end of document

Ctrl + 1 Single-space lines

Ctrl + 2 Double-space lines

Ctrl + 5 Space-and-a-half lines

F1 Open Help

F7 Spell and grammar check

Shift + F7 Thesaurus check on highlighted word

F12 Save as

Shift + F12 Save

Alt + Shift + D Insert the current date

Alt + Shift + T Insert the current time

F2 Rename a file

           

And, one more important shortcut: To remove the underline and color from a hyperlink, click on the link, then the right side of your mouse. A list will appear, and on that list you will find “Remove hyperlink.” Click on it, and the underline and color will disappear!

More shortcuts can be found at http://www.computerhope.com/shortcut/word.htm