Direct Response Business writing is different to ordinary business writing and many of the automatic features in Word are an absolute nightmare!

I use Microsoft Word to write all my material; books, articles, letters, adverts, newsletters you name it I use Word to write it.

And because I have done so for the last 15 years of my 30+ years in business life I am well aware of the irritating, hair-tearing frustration Word gives you when it wont do what you want it to.

Heres a series of mini-articles showing you how to get a grip on the program and make it do what you want, not what it thinks you want.

In this first article are 4 preparatory tips that make it easier for you to work with the program.

(Valid for Word 97 and later)

1) Turn off the Automatic Formatting Features:

From the menu: Format, AutoFormat, Options
Check the options selected in AutoFormat, AutoFormat as You Type and (in Word XP) Smart Tags

NOTE: After Clicking OK you return to the original AutoFormat dialogue box.
Click Cancel to close the dialogue box, otherwise your current document will be processed.

2) Switch off Widow and Orphan Control.

When a paragraph reaches the end of a page Word automatically prevents a line being left on its own. A line at the end of a page is known as a widow; one at the top of the next page is an orphan.

If you are writing a Sales letter you are happy to have a single line at the end or beginning of a page because it encourages readers to turn the page.

From the menu: Format, Paragraph, Line and Page Breaks. Remove the tick against Widow/Orphan Control

3) Add the Skip Numbering option to a shortcut menu

You can use this to stop the automatic numbering/bullets whilst keeping the paragraph formatting the same as the previous paragraph.

From the menu: View, Toolbars, Customize, on the Toolbars tab, select Shortcut Menus
On the new toolbar that appears, Click on Text then Lists
In the Customize dialogue box Click the Commands tab, select All Commands
Click & Drag the SkipNumbering option from the right hand box to the Lists menu

4) Using the Skip Numbering option on the shortcut menu

Suppress numbering for a paragraph, alternate (right) click on the new paragraph to display the quick menu and choose Skip Numbering

NB You can also use Shift & Enter instead of Enter to suppress the numbering in the next paragraph, but this is not suitable for justified paragraphs.

Restart paragraph numbering. If the numbering continues from a previous numbered section, alternate (right) click to display the quick menu and choose Restart Numbering

In the other articles in this mini-series I share another 21 tips:

* Formatting as you type including a couple of neat tips that save time.

* Page formatting including Page borders; page numbering (starting at the number YOU want); and a brilliantly easy way to create underlines for forms (No, it is not the line drawing tool!) amongst others.

* Creating Contents lists; quick tips for spell checking and hyphenation

* More on Paragraph numbering and spacing (to stop your numbers and bullets disappearing when you want a line gap between paragraphs!)