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So, you are going to write the newest, best-selling novel. Or maybe a
screen play, technical manual or your memoirs. In any case, the writing
adventure you are going to embark on is one that will require you to
divide your work into several, perhaps many, sections or chapters.
Managing a large document can be quite a daunting task. Even my
"Email Primer", though just thirty-eight pages, was a challenge
to work on.
I always work from an outline when ever I am writing a new work. I've
written several how-to manuals and safety manuals and PowerPoint presentations
for industry and I
always start with an outline, whether in Word or in PowerPoint. This gives
me a path to follow in my writing and keeps the flow of the work smooth,
with few offshoots or digressions. Electronic outlines are much easier to
use than paper ones as they can be more easily altered as additional
topics come to mind or as you realize that a main topic is actually a subtopic
of another. In the past I have used the Outline View in Word, but I have
recently changed to a different method for long documents. Let me briefly
explain briefly what the Outline View is and then why I now use the Master
Document/Subdocument method.
Outline View
This view can be accessed by clicking "View" on the menu bar
and choosing "Outline" or by the keyboard combination of [Alt] +
"V" + "O". (The [Alt] key is used in conjunction with
the menu bar in many cases.) You can create the backbone or outline of
your document quickly and easily in this view. The arrows on the tool bar
will move the sections in or out, up and down, creating the hierarchy of
your document topics and subtopics. You can view with formatting or
without, and there are many other options that are available which make
creating the outline of your document simple and easily modified. Your
entire document can be written in this view, although it may take a little
getting used to.
While this view is fantastic for designing small to medium documents,
if you are writing a book or a similar long document, especially one that
will be divided into chapters or sections, you may find that the Master
Document/Subdocument method will better suit your needs.
The Main Document/Subdocument View
To use the Master Document/Subdocument, click on "View", then
scroll down to "Master Document" and click. The Master Document
view opens…but wait! Steve, this look suspiciously like the Outline
View. Well…yes, it does and it is used in very much the same way. Your
topic hierarchy buttons are there, along with the other elements of the
Outline View. You can expand and collapse the outline in this view also.
But there is an important difference. In fact, if you are in Outline View
you can access the Master Document view by clicking a button on the tool
bar. It looks like a sheet of paper with rectangular boxes on it. (View
the photo above).
So, what is so great about the Master Document view? Be patient, I'm
getting to that. After you have created your document outline, using
headings for the various topics and subtopics, you are ready to create the
subdocuments. Let's assume that you are writing an introduction for your
book and then used Heading format 2 for your chapters. While holding down
the left mouse button, drag your cursor over all of the document you have
designated as chapters. Just make sure that the first Heading 2 formatted
line is the first one. Now click on the "Create Subdocument"
button on the toolbar. It looks like a sheet of paper with a single yellow
rectangle on it. Word will now create subdocuments based on the first
heading style in your selection. For instance, if you had Heading 2 as the
first style in the selection, all Heading 2 formatted lines will become
subdocuments. You will notice that each subdocument is now surrounded by a
rectangular box. The subtopics, represented by other heading formats, are
included in the box for the main topic for that subdocument.
Now comes the really interesting part. When you save your document,
each subdocument is saved as a separate file. The Main Document can be
named as you wish, each subdocument is save with a filename derived from
the heading formatted line. For instance, if you formatted using Heading
2, and named your sections "Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3" and
so on, then the subdocuments would be named: chapter 1.doc, chapter 2.doc,
chapter 3.doc, etc. I would suggest saving this master document to a
separate folder so that you can keep track of the subdocuments. When
you look in the folder, you will see the master document and each of the
subdocuments.
You can double-click on any of the subdocuments and it will open, ready
for you to work on. But now you will only have the topic you want to
revise, edit or add to in front of you and you don't have to search down
through your entire literary creation! In the mood to work on Chapter 2?
Click, click and you're in to begin! Want to just concentrate on Chapter
27…no problem, just do it! Want to take Chapters 5 and 6 with you to the
dentist office? Just copy them to a floppy to use on your laptop, then
when you get back, transfer the revised file back to the folder and
overwrite the old file. Word of Warning: don't change the filename or
terrible things could happen. I'll explain in a minute. If you have
"My Briefcase" installed (a Windows default) use it. It will
automatically update the old file with the new file. Hmmm…might be a
good topic for another newsletter…
In the pictured example, "Maintaining Excellence.doc" is the
main document. The chapter document files are the subdocuments and can be
opened in the master document or by themselves. (Notice the bottom file
has a tilde and dollar sign for the first two letters. That means that
document is open and being edited.)
Now that you've saved the master document and all the little
subdocuments, it is time to see the real power of this method. Find the
master document in the folder (it's the one YOU named) and open in it. It
will open in one of two ways. It will either look just like it did when
you saved and close it OR it will have the master document text followed
by HYPERLINKS to the subdocuments. If you don't see the hyperlinks, click
the "Expand subdocuments" button or use [Ctrl] + \ to expand it.
Clicking on a hyperlink will open that
subdocument in a new window, ready for your creative juices to flow.
![If you can't see the hyperlinks, click on the Expand Subdocuments button or press [Ctrl] + \](../tutorial_pics/master10.gif)
The button with the down arrow will expand the subdocuments into your
outline view.
Clicking it again will collapse them back into hyperlinks.
Here is the collapsed or hyperlink view of the master document. Clicking
on a hyperlink will open the subdocument in a new window where you can
work on it. When you save and close the subdocument, you will come back to
this view.
When you are done working on that subdocument, save and close it and
the master document will show again. Click on another hyperlink to a
different subdocument and go to town on that one. Now an explanation: This
is why you don't want to rename the subdocuments. If you change the file
name, Word won't be able to find the subdocument and the hyperlinks won't
work. You can also work in the original view, especially if you need to
modify or add to your outline. Clicking [Ctrl] + \ will toggle back and
forth between the expanded view and the hyperlink view. There is also a
button on the tool bar that will do the same thing.
You can add more subdocuments after you have created your master
document. And you can even link documents that you have already created to
your master document and make them subdocuments (it will not alter them,
just link to them).
After you complete a subdocument you can combine it with the master
document, but it is not necessary. You select the subdocument item for
that subdocument, this will select the entire subdocument. Click on the
button on the tool bar for removing a subdocument. It looks just like the
"create subdocument" button, except that it has a red X on it.
The subdocument will now become part of the main document. The separate
file for the subdocument in the folder will remain, but you can delete it
now as the subdocument is merged with the main document. BUT…if you
highlight the subdocument in Master Document View and press [Delete], it
is removed completely from the main document, although the separate file
is not deleted in the folder. Use this if you decide the subdocument does
not fit in with the main subject matter after all, but would make a good
article for another publication.
As I stated previously, you do not have to merge the subdocuments into
the main document, you can leave them linked if you want. This can be
especially helpful if you know in advance that all or part of your
document will need to be revised in the future. Merge only those parts
that will "stand the test of time", but leave the
"inevitable editables" as single subdocuments. When you do revise them,
it will be updated automatically in the master document. The merged
documents can be deleted from your computer, leaving only the ones that
may need revision. But wait…are you planning to sell your book? Wouldn't
it be nice to offer a sample chapter for folks to download and preview?
Hmmm…the subdocuments can stand on their own, can't they. Viola, a
sample chapter already separated out as a single file!
Working with the Main Document/Subdocument may take a little getting
used to, but I believe that you will find that it will make writing your
next "Best Seller" more efficient, organized and less nerve
wracking to manage. Have
fun with it!
© August 2003 by Steve Maurer
Steve Maurer Publications
Fayetteville, Arkansas United States of America
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