To Whom It May Concern:
I have been adjusting to OpenOffice Writer for a few weeks after losing my
Microsoft Word application, and I hope you can imagine how frustrated and
confused I am with this new software. As Microsoft Word is what I know, I
naturally approached Writer like I would Word. However, there are stark and
considerable differences between Writer and Word that I have inevitably
encountered. For example, there is apparently no "vertical paragraph alignment"
option in Writer, but there is in Word. As a writer, there are many essential
tools and options that I need from my word processor that I am not finding or
having trouble finding. I do refer to OpenOffice Wiki and the Help Tool,
however, there are many things the Wiki and the Help Tool do not explain. For
example, they do not explain how to apply a certain page-style. I only stumbled
across the fact that a page-style can only be applied by inserting a manual
page break.
I am struggling with how to format my documents to display various
page-numbers. I am a novelist and any guides I discover only pertain their
information to technical and business-style document formats. For example, the
guides on "headers" always go into great detail about customizing your header
and skip over the essential "simple" how-to-make a normal, average everyday
header that is not going to be viewed by a company CEO or graded by a business
education instructor. I am simply a writer writing a novel, and I need my word
processor to apply to me specifically.
Here is what I need to know how to do:
1. Format different page numbers- Title Page (no number)- Dedication Page (no
number)- Table of Contents (roman numerals)- Preface (roman numerals)- Prologue
through all chapters ( starting at page 1)- Acknowledgments (continuing page
numbers)- Appendices/Index (continuing page numbers)2. Create a traditional
Table of Contents (like in any other novel, no business topics or sections and
complete with a leader)3. Design headers to display book name on one page,
chapter title on the next, continuously4. Vertically align a paragraph
Any information regarding these issues would be most certainly appreciated and
duly acknowledged. I am new to OpenOffice Writer, but I know I will be just
fine with it once I get my bearings. I also have another question concerning
file format and extensions. As a writer, I will have to eventually
electronically submit part or all of my manuscript to a Literary Agent and or
Publisher at some point and so the file extension will need to be in a format
usable by these organizations' software (most likely Word). Is the ODT file
format compatible with Word or do I need to save my documents under a different
format? This, above all else, is perhaps the most important question because
the others are useless without the file being able to proceed. I thank you very
much for your time, consideration, all manners of things and especially for the
development and availability of this software to simple people like myself.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Joel S. Ikenberry
