While I recognize that there are people who need word processors like Microsoft Word and its ilk, I really hate these tools, and wish daily for a writing tool that will just get out of my way and let me write. As I have mentioned, I am writing a book. And, like every other publisher, this one has their own MS Word Template File to which I must slavishly adhere. So, if I want something to appear in monospace black courier, like source code, I make it green times new roman to indicate that desire. Somehow, in the typesetting process, they then magically convert that to the wrong style so that it will look funny in the finished product.

At least, this has been my experience numerous times in the past.

Over the last 2 days, while I am way way behind schedule, but seeing a chance of catching up, I have spent far more time attempting to make things the right format/style/whatever than actually writing content. In fact, as I look at these meagre three paragraphs, I realize that I have written more in the last 2 minutes than in the 2 hours leading up to that. This is profoundly depressing.

I really truly don’t care one whit about page layout. That’s not my job. My job is to write. I think I’m pretty good at it. Design and layout, however, are not my forté. And I just don’t care. So, rather than spending 2 minutes writing a page of prose, I spend a hour trying to get one little phrase to show up as inline code, monospaced, and green, without turning the entire page to flashing blue text underlined with red squigglies.

I really hate MS Word. Can I please find a publisher that will just let me write in POD, or LaTeX, or plain text, or something at least remotely sensible? It seems not, since this is the third publisher I’ve worked with.

I’m *really* excited about this book. It’s going to be a great book. Unfortunately, the process is robbing me of most of the enjoyment. 🙁