226 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
226 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'
|
|
|
|
THE GUIDE TO WRITING TEXT FILES
|
|
|
|
`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'`'.'
|
|
written by: paranoidxe
|
|
date: 04/22/04
|
|
email: paranoidtsi@hotmail.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
There are very few text files that are good guides to writing..well text
|
|
files. Most of them are either subject specific or are considerably dated.
|
|
In this document I will show you some good techniques in writing in text.
|
|
|
|
This document is based on what I have personally seen in text files, as well
|
|
as my personal writing experiences in the past 5 years of text creation.
|
|
My goal is simply to help people understand how to write text files and to
|
|
understand why people do it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+-----------------------+
|
|
WHY SHOULD I USE TXT..
|
|
+-----------------------+
|
|
|
|
There are many reasons why I feel that text files are superior to that of
|
|
alternative methods such as HTML, SWF (Shockwave), Acrobat, Word, etc. Here
|
|
are some of the reasons:
|
|
|
|
- text files are virtually universal, almost ANY computer in the world can
|
|
view the document at anytime. Unlike word documents that require you to
|
|
have word installed, or PDF files that require Acrobat Reader. Word won't
|
|
install on a 80386 now will it? No. A text file would be viewable on a
|
|
ancient machine. HTML is a special case, yes HTML can look nice and is
|
|
virtually universal...there is just one problem..in some cases the
|
|
alignment, coding could appear fine in one browser but look like shit in
|
|
another. text on the otherhand will look virtually the same with no
|
|
retarded formatting problems.
|
|
|
|
- text files are easy to print, this makes them very easy for you to read
|
|
when you aren't at the computer. When was the last time you saw a Word
|
|
Doc or a Acrobat Doc that was easy to print and didn't use so much ink
|
|
and require tweaks to make it print right? There are some HTML documents
|
|
that are printer friendly, true but they sometimes don't print right and
|
|
use more ink in most cases.
|
|
|
|
- text files are small in size, this means that they are easy to transfer
|
|
between people and a dial-up user can easily read without having to wait
|
|
15 minutes for it to load. On average a text file is about 10 times
|
|
smaller than a equiv. HTML document, and almost 30 times smaller than
|
|
the equiv. Word DOC. If thats not enough, text files are also very
|
|
open to compression schemes, a typical ZIP archive can cut a text file
|
|
nearly 50% in size.
|
|
|
|
- text files appear HOW YOU want it to appear, there is no special software
|
|
requirements to view the file correctly. The only possible problem is that
|
|
the font might be different in appearance, but this does not damage the
|
|
layout at all like HTML might.
|
|
|
|
- many operating systems have a text editor built right in, windows has
|
|
notepad/wordpad, while dos has edit. This means you don't need to go out
|
|
and buy special software to type.
|
|
|
|
|
|
+------------------------+
|
|
REASONS PEOPLE WRITE..
|
|
+------------------------+
|
|
|
|
There are a few reasons people will write text documents, here are some of
|
|
the more common ones, your reasons may vary:
|
|
- TO SAY SOMETHING, they might just want to express themselves and see what
|
|
the world thinks.
|
|
- TO MAKE A STATEMENT, to try and turn people to see their beliefs and
|
|
follow theirs.
|
|
- TO BECOME POPULAR, they want to make a name for themselves.
|
|
- TO REFLECT LATER, maybe simply for times sake they want to reflect what
|
|
they were feeling on day <x>. Like a diary perhaps.
|
|
- TO HELP PEOPLE, some people just want to write to help people understand
|
|
various concepts or help them step-by-step to accomplish something.
|
|
|
|
There may be other reasons people write, ALL are valid. There is no such
|
|
thing as a invalid reason to write text documents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+------------------------+
|
|
WHERE DO I START..
|
|
+------------------------+
|
|
|
|
So you want to write text files huh? There should be a built-in text editor
|
|
in your operating system. Some of the common built-in ones are:
|
|
WINDOWS - notepad/wordpad
|
|
DOS - edit.com
|
|
MAC - simpletext
|
|
|
|
If you want more complex editors than the ones available for whatever
|
|
reason,
|
|
here are some you can try:
|
|
|
|
For Linux: Vim, Joe, Jed, Emacs, ee, nedit, Pico
|
|
For Windows: Notetab Light, EditPad Classic, Metapad, Notepad+
|
|
For Mac: BBEdit, BBEdit Lite, Tex-Edit Plus, Alpha
|
|
|
|
If you are running Windows 95/98/ME and your file sizes exceed 50K then you
|
|
may want to look into a 3rd party program or using word pad. Notepade is not
|
|
suitable for large file sizes. Windows NT does not have this issue.
|
|
|
|
After you download and install the program of your choice simply launch it
|
|
and start typing!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+----------------------+
|
|
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS
|
|
+----------------------+
|
|
|
|
There is no rules to writing text files, but these are some suggestions that
|
|
I have if you are new to text editing:
|
|
- DO NOT use word wrap, why? Simply because some programs are not designed
|
|
to
|
|
handle it by default and if the file is viewed in a web browser it will
|
|
most likely scroll off the side of the screen and will be unviewable.
|
|
Always
|
|
use enter when you are done with the end of the line.
|
|
|
|
- DO NOT exceed 79 characters per line, this is for compatibility for users
|
|
with 640x480 resolution, if it exceeds 79 characters once again some of
|
|
the characters could potentially go off the screen.
|
|
|
|
- DO NOT USE CAPS, using all caps isn't exactly eye pleasing..this is just
|
|
a personal preference use caps all you want, but not many people will like
|
|
it and it will lead to getting less viewers of you document should you
|
|
put it online.
|
|
|
|
- USE A SPELLCHECKER, it is annoying if you can't read the document because
|
|
the word is so off on spelling. Using a spellchecker ensures that most
|
|
blarring errors are corrected.
|
|
|
|
- FORMAT YOUR TEXT, again there are no laws to writing text, but if the
|
|
layout is nice people will want to read it more than if the words were
|
|
all put together in one paragraph with 300 lines. Try to make headings
|
|
stand out from the rest of the text.
|
|
|
|
- UNLESS IT IS CREATIVE ORIGNAL WORK DONT PUT LEGAL DISCLAIMERS, there is
|
|
absolutely no point for a disclaimer if it is just stating facts. Which
|
|
most text files are. Don't waste your time writing a while paragraph on
|
|
copyright information. If you need to put copyright on your work then
|
|
a simple "copyright <your name/alias> <year>" this should be sufficient.
|
|
Even if it is creative work, don't bother making a big legal disclaimer
|
|
unless the document really matters to you. Even with legal disclaimers
|
|
you will notice that people will still try to steal your work.
|
|
|
|
- REFRAIN FROM USING ALT+<NUMBER> FOR SPECIAL SYMBOLS, this is not ASCII
|
|
that is ASCII-2 which is NOT universally accepted. On top of that the
|
|
character will not appear the same on other systems.
|
|
|
|
- PUT DATES AND YOUR ALIAS ON TOP OF THE PAGE, that way the viewer can
|
|
identify
|
|
who wrote the document as well as when it was created. This shows if it
|
|
has
|
|
been updated lately or not, it also good to laugh at your own documents
|
|
when
|
|
years pass by. Without dates you don't know if it needs updating or not or
|
|
when it was created.
|
|
|
|
- TRY TO REFRAIN FROM WORD PROCESSORS, its really not that they don't create
|
|
text files right, its the fact that most of them are bulky and if you are
|
|
multi-tasking they are most likely to crash than a little notepad program
|
|
would. Plus they have more features than you are ever going to need when
|
|
making a text document. The only real function of a word processor is for
|
|
spell checking your text.
|
|
|
|
- REMEMBER THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS, you can type whatever you wish about
|
|
whatever you wish. The limitation on content will probably depend on the
|
|
host it goes to. If you don't plan on putting it online then the host
|
|
doesn't
|
|
matter either. Hosts are fairly accepting on the context of txt files.
|
|
|
|
- MAKE THE TITLE STAND OUT, making the title stand out grabs focus to the
|
|
viewer and makes them understand what it is all about. If it doesn't the
|
|
user may not understand what the particular text file is all about.
|
|
|
|
- EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE INCLUDED, this is optional..however it is
|
|
recommended that you get a free web email address for your text documents
|
|
that way you can get a better understanding of your viewers and they can
|
|
email you with comments (both negative and positive). Yes it will probably
|
|
bring in spam, but you will get legit email if many people view your
|
|
document.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+---------------------------------------+
|
|
TYPES OF TEXT FILES THAT CAN BE CREATED..
|
|
+---------------------------------------+
|
|
|
|
TECHNICAL HOW-TO: These explain processes, usually step-by-step on how to
|
|
do something. This is probably one of the most common
|
|
type of document.
|
|
|
|
EDUCATIONAL: These files generally take a subject and try to explain it
|
|
to the best of their knowledge.
|
|
|
|
PERSONAL: These files are of a personal nature, expressing personal views,
|
|
creating poetry, consipiracy theory, etc.
|
|
|
|
The subjects that could be discussed are virtually limitless, it doesn't
|
|
even have to make sense. So do what you want and have fun with it, this
|
|
isn't a school project it doesn't have to follow a strict code of conduct.
|
|
|
|
|
|
+---------------------------+
|
|
ON CLOSING...
|
|
+---------------------------+
|
|
Hopefully this will help those of you considering writing text files to
|
|
start
|
|
doing it. Remember, text files are limitless you can write about ANYTHING
|
|
your heart or mind desires ANYTHING.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|