Here are the instructions I promised for step-by-step Word Processing Instructions:

First things first..so you should print this now to have it at hand when you start practicing.

A good idea to become familiar with any software program is to create a number of documents without any specific purpose other than to help you understand all of the features of the software and how they are used. A good way to do that is to write down each procedure you're performing as you do it. And by simply describing those steps you take on the document, you will be writing your own "How To Do It" manual. This way, you don't have to think too much about what you're writing, because you will be writing about precisely what you are doing.

Before you even begin using Microsoft Word, you need to understand that one of the most important things to remember is that after you've created your documents, you will want to save it on your computer. The following steps will allow you to set up a special "folder" into which you can save your documents.

On your "Desktop" screen (where all of the program "icons" are), place your mouse pointer over a blank area on the screen and WITH THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON, click once. You'll get a short list which will say at the top "Arrange Icons".a little further down will be a line that says "New>" with a right-facing arrow.place the pointer on the word "New" and then over to where it says "Folder". Click once and you will see a new folder created with a highlighted line that says "New Folder" (surprise, surprise)..on that line type in whatever name you wish to give the folder (for example, Bob's Letters). This little folder will become very important to you later.

When you open the program, the page size is 8 ½ X 11, with the margins set at 1" from top and bottom and 1 ¼" from the left and right. If you want to change the paper size, click on "File", then "Page Setup."

If you want to change the margins, you'll need to click inside each setting (Top, Bottom, Left and Right) and set the margins to whatever you wish. (On the Page Setup Screen.)

If you want to change the paper size, click on "Paper Size" and make the appropriate changes as you see fit. Notice also on the "Paper Size" screen that you can select either

"Portrait" or "Landscape". If you select portrait, it will be the normal paper orientation (that is, 8 ½ width and 11 length).If you select "Landscape", you will have the paper turned the other way, with the 11" size as the width and the 8 ½" side as the length.

As you type the document, you can put all of your text on the page in "rough" position at first and then make whatever changes you want as you finish working on the text, adding such things as "Bold", Underlines, or text color. And you can select your final position-ing of your text after all of the changes have been made. By putting all of your text in "rough" position, you don't need to waste a lot of time being too precise. That will all come later as you get more experience.

A good exercise is to use your mouse pointer on each and every one of the "icons" on the tool bars at the top of the Microsoft Word screen. As you place the pointer over each one, it will tell you what function they serve. On the very top tool bar, which is where it says

"File", "Edit", "View", etc., all of those lists will give you many, many functions which you may use regularly or very, very rarely. However, you need to have some basic knowledge of them so that when you become more experienced, you will know quickly where to go to perform those functions which are used in creating text documents.

Remember one important concept here: THESE PROGRAMS ARE USED BY LARGE CORPORATIONS, LEGAL OFFICES, ETC., AND USE MUCH MORESOPHISTICATED DOCUMENTS THAN YOU WILL EVER NEED TO CREATE.

With that in mind, don't become frustrated if you don't understand every function of Microsoft Word. People who have used it for years only use a small percentage of the capabilities of the program. So, for the most part, you will be using perhaps 2 or 3 percent of the program's capabilities.

So now, start to type a document (perhaps a letter to a friend) and we will demonstrate some of the basic functions of the program. When your letter has been typed, you might want to change the appearance of a portion of the text. Select the text you wish to change and place the mouse pointer (the cursor) at the beginning of the area you wish to change. Then HOLD DOWN THE MOUSE BUTTON AND "DRAG" THE POINTER ACROSS AND DOWN TO HIGHLIGHT THE ENTIRE TEXT TO CHANGE. When you have finished high lighting the text to be changed, release the mouse button and the high light will remain. Now move the mouse pointer to the very top of the page to where it says "Format". Click here and a list will drop down. At the top of the list, it will say "Font"..Click on Font. Another screen will open and give you all sorts of choices as to how you want the highlighted text to appear.

Play with all of these options until you understand the wide variety of choices available to you. You can choose the style and size of the type; the appearance of the type (such as Bold or Italic, etc); underlining and even color of the type. Play with all of these and you will soon understand how much versatility you have.

Also on the "Format" screen, you can select from a huge choice of styles for your document including borders, shading, numbering and "bullet" points. If you are not familiar with these terms, just play with them all and you'll soon understand how creative you can be.

If you want to see a rough idea as to how your document will appear as a printed sheet, click on "File", then down to "Print Preview" and it will appear in a smaller window to give you a look at what a printed copy will look like. When you are done with the Print Preview, hit the "ESC" key at the upper left corner of your keyboard and you will return to the full size document.

When you are finished with a document, you need to save it.Remember that "New Folder" we created earlier? Now is when you will use it.

When you are finished with your document, go to "File", then down to "Save As.." When you click on "Save As..", a window will open which will be called "Save As.." and will have near the top a line which says "Save In.." This line will have a down-pointing arrow at the right side of the little window. What you want to appear in this little "Save In.." window is "Desktop".So you may need to scroll up to get "Desktop" on that line. When you do get "desktop" on that line, click on it and all of the listings of the folders on the desktop will appear, including your own created special folder. Then click twice on your own personal folder and it will then appear on the line where "Desktop" appeared. When that has been done, move the pointer down to the line called "File Name" and type in a name for your document. It can be a short name or a long name. You can give it a very descriptive name so that you will always know what it is. When the name of your document has been typed in, then click on "save" at the far right of the window and your document will have been saved.

When you are finished saving your document, you can start another or you can shut down the Microsoft Word program. This shut down can be done wither by clicking on the "X" at the far upper right of the screen or by clicking on "File", then down to "Exit."

When you want to re-open that document in the future, double-click on the personal folder icon on your desktop, all of the saved files in there can be seen and you can open any of them by double-clicking on the file shown.
Regards,
Ken Mitnick