The Nisus Files: Automatic Numbering

By Kirk Hiner

March 24, 2002

Warren Adler told me to shut up.

I'm pretty happy about that, really. I rank it right up there with the time I made David Bowie chuckle and when Brian May called one of my short stories "Clever." Good times. I wonder if either would let me quote them on the back of my book? Perhaps I could get the Kirkus Reviews to "snicker" or the New York Times to "giggle like little schoolgirls."

Yet, it was Warren Adler, author of "The War of the Roses," "Random Hearts," and countless other books I'll never read, who told me to shut up. Actually, I guess he told my boss to tell me to shut up, but that doesn't sound as good. Neither does the full story, so I won't relay it. I'd rather just try to figure out how to use this to my advantage. Publishers have indicated that "first time authors" can be taken more seriously if they get letters of recommendations or even simple quotes from published authors. Does, "Tell him to shut up" count?

I think I'll hire a publicist or an agent or someone to find that out for me. In the meantime, it's ever onward with my current project. Progress has been slowed down by the search for a house that will not only meet my wife's standards, but also fit in our budget and have a logical place to put my Flash Gordon pinball machine. Funny thing, that; Tieraney wants a house with a new furnace, a dishwasher, hardwood floors and at least two stories. I want a house with a door wide enough to fit the pinball machine through.

It's because of such distractions that I'm still happy to be using Nisus Writer. Unlike the rest of my life, it's pretty much distraction free. Even with the problems I've listed in previous Nisus Files articles, and with those to come, I still manage to get writing done more quickly in Nisus Writer than in the other word processors I use.

The latest trick across which I've stumbled comes from the Book Tools section of the Nisus Writer manual. If you're not one of the privileged few with a printed manual, no need to worry; the info can be found in the Nisus Writer Help file. I know, I know, this is a poor substitute for a printed manual, but I think I've made my point about that. It's time to move on.

The first portion of Book Tools addresses automatic numbering. In the past, I've been content to stick with automatic page numbering. It's a necessity for authors, after all, and Nisus Writer handles it well. But hey, why stop at just page numbers? Other elements of books need to be numbered as well, elements such as chapters, paragraphs, sections, etc., depending upon the type of book being written. I'm working on a novel, so chapters are all upon which I'll focus here. Understand, though, that Nisus also handles the numbering of sections, subsections, sub-subsections, tables, equations, figures, and other customized elements.

Automatically numbering your chapters is as simple as selecting the feature from the Insert menu. The benefit here isn't readily apparent, I suppose. It takes longer to select this from the menu than to simply type "Chapter I." Where it really comes in handy is further into the project when you start moving things around and dividing them up. In my previous novel, I had one chapter that was much longer than any others. There was a good place where it could've been nicely split, but I didn't really want to do this. Because I'd written the novel in Word, each chapter was its own file. Splitting a middle chapter into two would've required opening each following chapter to renumber the pages and update all the chapter headings.

Nisus Writer's long document features, which I began to cover in my last column, make it simple and efficient to keep an entire novel in one file (back it up, back it up, back it up). The ability to automatically number chapters adds to this efficiency. Had I written my last novel in Nisus, splitting up that chapter would've been a simple matter of adding a page break, then using the New Chapter Number selection as described above. The page would've been properly titled, the page numbers would've reflowed throughout, and each following chapter number would've been automatically bumped up by one to recognize the addition.

Easy. One less thing to worry about when writing. Authors can make decisions based on what makes the most sense for their work, not on what will allow them to meet their deadlines.

But ah, what about formatting? Using the Define Numbers dialogue box, your automatically numbered chapters and such can be set to read in Arabic, Roman, upper case Roman, AgbadHawaz, upper and lowercase alphatbetic, and Hebrew. You can define the starting chapter and the increment at which they rise.

Getting the numbers to speak with your document, however, is somewhat of a mixed bag. Automatic chapter numbers can be customized through both paragraph styles and text styles, but getting these two to work together is somewhat confusing as they don't really care to cooperate with one another. Say, for instance, that you always want your chapter titles to be Century Schoolbook Bold. You can easily define a style that handles this. Now, you probably also want it to be automatically centered. This is handled by the Paragraph Rulers. The Define Styles dialogue box offers a check box that allows you to assign your styles to your preset Paragraph Rulers, but this doesn't work as I'd hoped. Selecting your Paragraph Ruler doesn't apply the defined style. Quite the opposite, the defined style pulls in the Paragraph Ruler. It's a matter of personal preference, yes, but I'd like it if the Paragraph Ruler could also grab the style to which it's attached.

It would also be great if there was also a way to assign the Automatic Chapter Numbering to the Paragraph Ruler. If I could click on that ruler and have it automatically number the chapter, center the text, and select and format my typeface, all would be right with the world. Of course, it would also have to allow me add text to the chapter titles in the event they're also named, so that may be asking too much.

Still, although it's not perfect in its implementation, automatic chapter numbering is further indication that Nisus Writer was created with the author in mind. Many of the features included here are unique amongst word processors, and few of them are distracting...no dancing paper clips here to interrupt your thoughts. As I continue forward with my novel and in this column, I'll scout the manual, FAQ, and tips for elements that either help or hinder...

Oh, sorry. I just got an e-mail from Jackie Collins telling me to knock out all that racket, so I guess I'd better stop.

See next article.

See past article.

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