Word’s
Comment feature is a hugely useful tool. You can insert an invisible note for
yourself or someone else, such as an editor. I’m in an e-mail critique group,
and we use comments in our critiques, along with line editing with Track
changes turned on. WordPerfect also provides a Comment tool.
I sometimes create a skeletal version of a scene that’s not fully developed in my mind and use Comment to leave a note about thoughts for fleshing it out. Or maybe there’s a description or action that I know needs work. In one of my novels I described a character as having a “pretty face.” A critiquer noted that this was pretty vague. When I came to that place in rewriting, I just wasn’t ready to deal with finding other language, so it was easy to highlight “pretty” and add this little note to myself: “better adjective/description—fine-boned, delicate features…” When I was good and ready, I took my time to do justice to the description.
The woman's face emerged--oval shape, delicate features and big eyes like you see in fashion models.
For me, that’s one of the best uses for comments--to annotate possibilities that occur to me when I don’t have the time or inclination to write them out. For example, in one scene my character leaves an intense but brief scene with his boss in which he had quit and does this: In his office, Gabe slams the few personal things he doesn’t want to lose into his briefcase.
Later, when
skimming through the chapter, I had a nagging sense that it had ended too abruptly, so I
highlighted “In his office” and added this comment: “consider
having the boss follow him into the hallway and finishing the confrontation.” I
went back later and created a much stronger scene. Here’s the addition:
Gabe’s not ten feet down the hallway before Lawrence’s voice attacks from behind. “You hold on there!”
Gabe stops and turns. Lawrence advances on him, his face flushed, his movements stiff and tense. Gabe waits and watches.
Lawrence comes to a halt close enough for Gabe to smell the cigarette smoke in his breath. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
A weight lifts from his mind, and Gabe feels strong and free. “How about the right thing?”
Lawrence sucks in air as if Gabe had punched him in his flat belly. His face reddens even more. “You’re one more word from being out of a job.”
Out of a job. But this job, with Lawrence fouling his work and pulling on a leash, will be hell. Gabe’s been here before, suffering the daily insult and pain of working for a lesser man. Last time it cost him lots of sleep and the beginnings of an ulcer. He’d vowed to never suffer fools again.
“Lawrence, don’t you have some ass-kissing to do? I think Phil’s going to need a long, deep pucker if you want to keep him happy.”
Like a fish, complete with glassy eyes, Lawrence opens and shuts his mouth a couple of times. Then he spins and hurries back to the conference room. Gabe heads for his office, a flush of victory humming through him.
There are different ways to add a comment. In Word 2000 and
earlier iterations, you highlight something where you want the comment to be,
click Insert in the top menu, then click on Comment. A box will appear, you
enter your note, then click Close. The comment becomes invisible until you want
to see it, but yellow highlighting remains to show you where it is. NOTE: you
can insert a comment without highlighting anything, but I wouldn’t—later
there’s no way to see where the comment is. A keyboard shortcut for inserting a
comment is to type Alt+Ctrl+m.
In Word 2002/XP, you insert comments in the same ways. A
comment balloon appears into which you can type your comment. Annoyingly (to
me), the balloon stays there. To make it go away, go to View and click on
Markup. Unfortunately, to my way of thinking, these versions of Word leave no
highlighting to tell you where the comment is—you have to click on View/Markup.
There are two ways in Word 2000 and earlier to later view a
Comment note. My preference is to place my cursor over the yellow highlight,
which causes the comment to appear in a pop-up box. Move the cursor away, it
goes away. Right-click your mouse (click the right key if you have a 2-key
mouse) and you get a menu that will let you edit or delete the comment. An
alternative way to view a Comment is to click View on the top menu in Word.
Then click Comments, and a window will appear with all the comments in them. You
can scroll to get to the area you want to see. This is a handy way to review
all of the reminders you’ve left in order to see what needs to be done.
In Word 2002/XP, click View and then Markup to see
comments. To make them go away, return to View and click Markup. WordPerfect
has a similar Comment feature.
In WordPerfect, to insert a comment click on Insert in the
top menu bar, move your cursor to Comment, and click on Insert in the pop-up
menu. To close the window that opens you have to click the X in the upper right
corner. You can also navigate back and forth between your document and comment
with Window on the main menu bar.
WordPerfect adds small “word balloons” to the left margin
of your document to indicate the presence of a comment. Click on the work
balloon to read the comment. Right-click on the comment to edit or delete it.
Instead of using the Insert menu,
I add the Insert Comment icon to my main toolbar so it’s always handy. Here’s
how: click Tools in the top menu bar. Click Customize. Click on the Commands
tab. Click the Insert icon in the list that appears, then scroll down until the
yellow Comment icon appears. Put your cursor over the icon graphic, press the
left mouse key down and hold it. You can then “drag” the icon up to your
toolbar. A marker will appear where it will be, and you can move the cursor to
find the right spot. Then release the mouse key and the icon will appear in
your toolbar. It should stay there, though in Word for the Mac, I’ve never
figured out how to make it permanent.
If you find other ways to put comments to work, please let me know and I’ll pass them on.
If I can help you with a question about your writing, email me and I’ll apply a beady eye to it. Tell me if I can share it in a post or if you want a “private consultation.”
All contents © Ray Rhamey 2004.