Unwanted gaps

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jeffrey3600
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Unwanted gaps

Post by jeffrey3600 »

I´m editing a short story. It is written in double space format. When I do an edit, for example add additional words to a line, I end up with a shorter line below. Is there a way to get the entire page to keeps it´s structure?
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keme
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Re: unwanted gaps

Post by keme »

jeffrey3600 wrote:I´m editing a short story. It is written in double space format. When I do an edit, for example add additional words to a line, I end up with a shorter line below. Is there a way to get the entire page to keeps it´s structure?
Most likely there is. However, you need to tell us what, in your opinion, constitutes "page structure". Is it line count, paragraph behavior (e.g. alignment, widow/orphan handling), visual appearance of the page (shapes when observed from a distance), existence/appearance of page headers/footers, or something entirely different?
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RoryOF
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Re: unwanted gaps

Post by RoryOF »

If each line is terminated when writing with Enter Writer is being used as a typewriter and making each line as what Writer considers as a paragraph. Turn on /View /non printing characters (the same command turns off the resulting display) and tell us what you see at line ends? Do they have backwards P characters shown?
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jeffrey3600
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Re: unwanted gaps

Post by jeffrey3600 »

Yes, there are "backward P´s".

Thanks.
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jeffrey3600
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Re: unwanted gaps

Post by jeffrey3600 »

After adding or subtracting words to a line, only half a sentence or just a word will appear on the following line. If I use delete after the last word then that line is fine but the problems just drops down to the next line, etc.

Thanks.
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robleyd
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Re: unwanted gaps

Post by robleyd »

It seems like you may have unnecessary paragraph breaks. Can you upload a sample file that shows the situation?

[Forum] How to attach a document here Note maximum file size is 128K. If your file is larger, use a file sharing site such as Mediafire and post the link here. The link also contains information on how to anonymise your document if it contains confidential information.
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Bill
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Re: unwanted gaps

Post by Bill »

jeffrey3600 wrote:After adding or subtracting words to a line, only half a sentence or just a word will appear on the following line. If I use delete after the last word then that line is fine but the problems just drops down to the next line, etc.

Thanks.
That's exactly what should happen if each line is terminated by pressing ENTER or SHIFT-ENTER. ENTER and SHIFT-ENTER insert manual line breaks which tell OpenOffice or any other word processor to start a new line instead of automatically wrapping text at the margin or paragraph indent. Removing a manual line break from any one line will pull up text from the next line, but the manual line break will remain on the next line, making it shorter since some text has been moved to the line above.
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RoryOF
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Re: unwanted gaps

Post by RoryOF »

From your description of what is happening, the document has been directly formatted by Enter being pressed at the end of each line. This is OK to do when one has a document composed of short lines, such as in a back and forth conversation, but using a word processor such as Writer, it is best to allow the blocks of text be continuous, and terminate each block (an entire paragraph) with Enter, causing Writer to break the lines according to the justification options selected. In the case of the directly formatted document you describe you have two choices - remove the direct formatting and reformat the entrire document, or (probably easier) continue using the direct formatting and adjusting for your alterations.

This document may be informative on the use of a word processor:
Writer for students (several languages)
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