by JoAnne Windsinger

Created on: June 01, 2011

Notepad is the most versatile computer tool a writer can use. Use it as a notebook while doing research and getting information. It comes free on your Microsoft Windows XL computer program. It functions as a text editor to create documents in conjunction with your word processor but useful for many other writing tasks.

Other uses.

Use it for taking notes, saving references, keeping track of article ideas, while researching, and for capturing random thoughts while surfing the web. It comes in handy for webinar notes also. It is often essential to use it in conquering formatting problems when copying and pasting onto some article-publishing sites.

It facilitates writing and rewriting, making it much easier than the intermittent transferring of information directly into the processor.

Many accomplished writers never use it and miss its many advantages

Where is it?

You find it on the Start menu of your PC. Click on it and it is yours. Instructions from MS say, “To open Notepad, clickStart, point toAll Programs, point toAccessories, and then clickNotepad.” On many computers, it is available from the Start Menu.

Using it.

Notepad takes a little getting used to, but once you have the basics, you will find more and more uses for it.

Go to the start menu and click on it. That will send it to the menu at the bottom of your page. When you see Notepad, click on it to bring it up.

It helps to minimize it if it covers the whole page. This allows you to drag it around the page to keep it out of your way when you read and write notes at the same time.

Write on it. Every time you click on anything, Notepad disappears, but not to worry. You can easily find it again on the menu bar at the bottom of the page. Just clicking on it brings it up again.

When ready to use information, just copy and paste it onto your article in the word processor or rewrite the information before you copy and paste. You can work with it on your processor just as you always did.

When you close it out, it asks whether you want to save the changes. Click “no” and Notepad is clear and ready to use the next time. If you want to save the information to a document, use the “save as” feature.

Research

Use it while researching. Write the required information on to Notepad. You can also copy and paste sections of text. Word of caution: use these notes for information only when you write the article. Never plagiarize! Use several sources and use the best information from each

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