Mixing word processing formats

Umgowa

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I originally wrote my novel in Word Perfect . . . Does anyone remember that word processing format? At the time, Microsoft Word had not yet totally taken over as the default program of choice for THE WORLD. So, after my my first draft is typed, I go and buy Microsoft Word and somehow it converts my entire novel over to .doc and .docx (Word) format, and I then edit and tweak and finish my novel in Word's compatibility mode which embraces Word Perfect and somehow converts it (supposedly) to Microsoft Word. But there is a problem. Now when I email any part of my novel to anyone and they look at it on their computer, the words look all screwed up . . . Apostrophe's are now equal signs and quotation marks are big letter "A" and the @ sign. My computer experts here tell me that there must be a lingering residual electronic "Poison" attached to the current manuscript and even though it says .doc and .docx, there is a lingering bit of Word perfect energy attached to it that screws everything up. I have tried exporting to Plain text but that doesn't change anything. It looks like I'm going to have to type the entire manuscript over in Microsoft Word. I'm just wondering if anyone out there has ever had a problem like this or if they might have any suggestions short of retyping the entire manuscript. Thanks.
 

robjvargas

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Wordperfect was WPD format, for what that's worth.

Let's start with the basics. Follow the steps in this article. See if the artifacts remain.

NOTE: The steps are for Word 2007, but should apply equally to 2010 and 2013.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Remember it? WordPerfect is still around and going strong. A lot of writers still use it.

My guess is your files are so old the Word filter can't make sense of parts of them.

Go to the WordPerfect website, download the trial version of Wordperfect, open the files it it, and then save them in a modern format. http://www.wordperfect.com/us/free-trials/
 

Umgowa

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Assuming this works (The squirrelly formatting is gone) I would then be faced with a "modern" version of Word Perfect. My understanding is that Agents today all want Microsoft Word. Also, my Apple computer has no compatibility with Word Perfect . . . It can only speak Apple Pages and Microsoft Word.
 

Maryn

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One make-do fix I've had work, many years back, on a similar WordPerfect to MSWord issue is to identify the characters which are being replaced. Say it's all the quotation marks, semicolons, and accented French vowels. One character at a time, use find and replace to substitute some character string which does not appear anywhere in your manuscript (say, ++ or <!) for an offending character. When they are all replaced, find and replace the ++ or <! with the correct character. Now it'll be an MSWord character, not a WordPerfect.

Not a perfect fix, but it worked for me, long ago. I was using "curly quotes" at the time and found I had to separate the open quotes from the close quotes, BTW.

Maryn, cobbling together fixes since the 90s
 

Umgowa

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Maryn:

That sounds like a great idea. I'll try it tomorrow morning when I'm not as tired as I am now. I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks.
 

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When you are using compatibility mode in MS Word, the document/file has not been converted. It's being "translated" on the fly.

Open the file in MS Word.

Go to the File menu and choose Save As.

Save it as .doc for compatibility for previous versions of MS Word.

Save it as .docx for compatibility with current versions of MS Word

Save it as rtf to be able to move to other applications with relative ease.

IMPORTANT:

I suggest you append the date to the file name. This means you are less likely have problems with version control.
 

Chase

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:ty:, techies for all the great tips.

I originally wrote my novel in Word Perfect . . . Does anyone remember that word processing format?

old-300.gif
Yep. I've written with WordPerfect since the '80s. Still do. In those days, it was--and today as WordPerfect X7 it is--the best out-of-the-box program for writers available.

At the time, Microsoft Word had not yet totally taken over as the default program of choice for THE WORLD.

I was even around to see MS's marketing strategy making MS Word "the default program of choice." It came free with most computer packages. Why pay for a better writing tool when a good business tool is free?

Our college had both, and I used them side-by-side. For writers, the choice was simple, but we're obviously the smaller voice.
 

blacbird

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May I also suggest that you first make a copy of the file in question, under a different file name, and work with that. Never screw around experimentally with the only copy you have of any document.

caw
 

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May I also suggest that you first make a copy of the file in question, under a different file name, and work with that. Never screw around experimentally with the only copy you have of any document.

caw

Always excellent advice.
 

namejohn

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removing unwanted formats

I' m writing below a way that might help with the formatting. If tried, should use a copy of the file that has a different name as said above. This is for a text only document.

Make a copy of the document, NOT the file itself, of the file which has the strange like formatting changes.

I have Windows 7 on my computer, so this is written as if using Windows 7. After coping the document, open WordPad which is in the accessories folder of Windows. Open a new WordPad document. Paste the copied document into the new WordPad document.

Copy the WordPad document, NOT the WordPad file.
Open a new Microsoft Word document. Paste the copied WordPad document into the new Microsoft Word document.

After this, all of the text in the word document should be left aligned, and have the font and the font size of the Normal style on the computer being used.

After this there will not be formatting such centered chapter heading or links for table of content and so on, which will have to be put in if wanted.

This should have removed all, but the very basic formatting, including the formatting wanted, which has to be replaced.

So whatever caused the the strange like formatting changing should have been removed.
 

Pony.

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I was even around to see MS's marketing strategy making MS Word "the default program of choice." It came free with most computer packages. Why pay for a better writing tool when a good business tool is free?
Thats kinda what I was thinking when i downloaded openoffice. Its working nicely and i like the word count feature(5832 so far)
my question is what are the generally accepted formats for submissions? I initially tried to save to a .doc file but got a message suggesting that I might be better off saving to an .odt file
Im in no way a tech person. In fact the last time my wife and i upgraded our cell phones when they asked what kind of phone I wanted I told them I wanted one that could make a phone call. I now know hoew my father felt when things started to pass him by.
 

Maryn

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Never mind what OpenOffice says about how you want to save in their format. Save as .doc. That's the one most publishers ask for.
 

AW Admin

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If you are saving for your own use, and plan to use Open Office, save as odt.

If you are saving for long-term archival or for backup save as .rtf and make sure you have a backup that is not on your computer, in case your computer runs away from home or whatever.

If you are saving for submissions see what the editor/publisher requests; it will probably be, in this order:

.doc
.rtf
.docx
 

Pony.

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Will do. I do have 3 options of .doc files, am i safe in assuming the most currently dated one would bet the better? I have one marked 2000/xp one marked 2003 and another marked 2008.
 

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I'd probably use the 2008 .doc file; it's fairly stable.

But it's never a bad idea to stash a copy of a file via Save As or Export as .rtf.

.rtf is ancient, will be easily read in the future, and is easily moved from word processor to word processor with at worst, minor formatting changes for most basic prose.