Writers Companion was designed as the ONE program you will need for the entire writing process: Brainstorm, Organize, Edit and Publish in one program.

BrainstormBrainstorm: Brainstorm In this mode the user simply creates text boxes and writes any idea they have related to the theme of their story or essay.

Brainstorm Brainstorm : Brainstorm

1. First click on the button labeled New Ideas. There are two ways to create new Idea Boxes. A. Using the New Idea Button: Each time you click on this button, it will create a new idea text box where you have placed the cursor. Write each idea you have about your theme in an individual text box. This will allow you manipulate your ideas later. B. Hitting Enter (Return for Macs): Simply hitting the Return or Enter key will create a new Idea Box next to the one you are working in. This is faster, but you cannot control where the boxes go. 2. Some ideas will be details, main ideas or conclusions, dont worry about that yet just keep writing. When you are finished writing down all your ideas related to the topic you are writing about, click on the Organize button to start organizing your ideas BrainstormBrainstorm: Brainstorm

In this mode the user can chose from any of three ways of organizing their ideas: Clustering Timeline Venn Diagram Each of these graphic organizers is used for different types of writing. Clustering can be used for any type of story or essay. Timeline can be used any type of writing that is sequential in nature, like recipes or directions. Venn Diagram is great for compare and contrast. OrganizeOrganize: Organize

Cluster Clustering can be used for any type of story or essay.

Venn Diagram Timeline can be used any type of writing that is sequential in nature, like recipes or directions.

Timeline Venn Diagram is great for compare and contrast.

Clustering This is the general-purpose method of graphically organizing any type of story or essay. Clustering is called by a number of names including webbing, but the essentials always remain the same, in someway you identify your main ideas and then you connect you details to them. Timelines can be used for any type of descriptive writing that is sequential in nature. Timelines are not the traditional type of timeline you are used to. It is a graphic organizer that is perfect for types of writing that are sequenced such as directions and recipes. Venn Diagrams are useful when you want to compare and contrast two concepts.Venn Diagram is the ideal format for doing compare and contrast essays OrganizeOrganize: Organize

To Sequence your Document: Sequencing is a unique way Writers Companion helps you to quickly and easily organize your writing. Putting your ideas in order is as easy as point and click Sequence

1. First, click on the Sequence button on the left-hand side of the screen. 2. You will notice that all the Main Ideas are numbered in yellow and the Details are numbered in green. 3. To change the order, click on the Main Idea or Detail you want to be first. 4. Now, click on each of the Main Ideas or Details you want in the order you want to them to appear in your Rough Draft. If you change your mind and want to restart the sequencing from one, click on the Reset All button in the Tool bar located under the Main Menu bar. You can also reset only the main ideas or details using the appropriate Sequence

Editing Your Rough Draft: Now is the time to edit your document. You can add transitions, edit spelling, change syntax, and get ready to move to the next step of publishing your final draft. You will have access to a variety of tools to assist you in the editing process including spell checking, thesaurus, dictionary, word count, readability and text-to- speech.

Spell Checker There is a built-in spell checker and thesaurus in Process Writer. It works like most spell checkers you have used in other programs. Thesaurus A thesaurus is an indispensable tool for every level of author. Dictionary Often students have heard vocabulary but are not quite sure what the meaning is. This especially important when they are using source materials for their writing which many times will contain unknown words. Word Count We included Word Count for obvious reasons, sometimes we ask students to write documents of a specific length. Measure Readability We included a readability measure because students love to get a score. I have personally found that many students can be motivated to use longer words, add adjectives and create more complex sentences, simply because it changes their grade level score on the readability scale. Text to Speech One of the most useful editing tools we have included in Writers Companion is text-to- speech. The ability to hear what you have written is an invaluable tool in finding your errors in spelling, syntax and grammar. You can choose from a variety of voices that are built-in to Writers Companion. This allows you to control how your document sounds when it is being read.Editing

Getting Ready to Publish: Now that you have finished editing your document, you are ready to export it for layout in another program such as Microsoft Word, Quark or PageMaker. You can also add the finishing touches right in Writer's Companion and then publish it as a printed document, web page, poster or

In the Publishing format you have access to fonts, styles, page layouts and this is where you add your graphics. It works much like a simple page layout program. It allows you to add your graphics, make columns, and change your fonts like you would in regular page layout program. Adding Graphics You can add almost any type of graphic, from any source such as the web, scanner, clipart library, digital camera or your own creations from any draw or paint program. Adding Columns Here you can make your published document look like the pros. Adding columns allows to you publish anything from your term report to your school newsletter. Importing and Exporting In Writers Companion we have attempted to give you the flexibility you need to enhance your documents or leverage content you have already created in other programs. Import and Export Text Files In Writers Companion you can import any RTF or Text file. You can also easily export your work as an RTF file to import into another word processing program. If you are unfamiliar with types of text files, an RTF or Rich Text Format is a standard file that retains the font formatting. Exporting Your Creations to HTML From the Publish mode in Writers Companion you can export your document as a HTML page. Publish

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