New To (La)TeX... Unlearning Bad Habits
Kevin Benko
I've recently decided that it's about time for me to learn (La)TeX [[and,
specifically AMSTeX]] and I seem to be doing quite well with teaching
myself to use and understand the syntax of (La)TeX.
Alas...
I have been absolutely RUINED by word processors over the years [I
remember WordStar]. In the word processing world it seems the focus has
alway been on the apperance of documents rather than on structure. Who
cared about CONTENT as long as it LOOKED cool?
Does anyone have any suggestions on any articles out there that might
address the issue of structure over appearance?
I think half the battle is USING TeX, the harder part might be WRITING
for TeX....
--
Kevin Benko
kevin [[at]] efn [[dot]] org
Robert Heller
In a message on Tue, 11 Mar 2003 21:40:53 GMT, wrote :
KB> Greetings.
KB>
KB> I've recently decided that it's about time for me to learn (La)TeX [[and,
KB> specifically AMSTeX]] and I seem to be doing quite well with teaching
KB> myself to use and understand the syntax of (La)TeX.
KB>
KB> Alas...
KB>
KB> I have been absolutely RUINED by word processors over the years [I
KB> remember WordStar]. In the word processing world it seems the focus has
KB> alway been on the apperance of documents rather than on structure. Who
KB> cared about CONTENT as long as it LOOKED cool?
KB>
KB> Does anyone have any suggestions on any articles out there that might
KB> address the issue of structure over appearance?
It is mostly a mater of going back to the *first* principles of creative
writing. *I* was taught, way back in 7th grade (this would be in the
late 1960's) that the *first* step in writing something, such as a
story, book report, etc. was to create an outline:
A) Opening remarks.
B) Prio work.
...
H) Conclusions.
...
For an article, this becomes:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\section{Opening remarks.}
\section{Prio work.}
...
\section{Conclusions.}
...
\end{document}
(replace the '...' with additional top level outline elements /
sections.)
Once you have this, you then divide things up further, with the next
level of outlining / sectioning. Repeat as far as you need and then
start writing.
There are *few* things you do need to concern yourself about:
Use `` ... '' instead of " ... ".
And realize that that there are a bunch of 'special' characters that
need escaping and if you have math, you'll have to deal with math mode.
Also, for some things you'll need to change font style for certain
special cases (such as {\it ...} or textit{} for proper names of
published things (eg book titles, movie titles, etc.).
KB>
KB> I think half the battle is USING TeX, the harder part might be WRITING
KB> for TeX....
No, the harder part might be WRITING <period>. TeX/LaTeX is actually
easy, once you \relax and stop worrying about appearance as a
be-all-end-all. Many people have become 'Word Processing Junkies' and
no longer 'WRITE' documents, they 'DRAW' them, almost at the same level
as a pre-literate 3-year old child might 'pretend' to 'write' a story,
but is just creating a sequence of pictures created with a pad of paper
and box of Crayolas -- this is perfectly normal and healthy in a 3-year
old child who is being creative, but is of questionable usefulness for
say a grad student writing a master's or PhD thesis or a business person
writing a white paper, etc. For this reason, *I* strongly recommend NOT
using any sort of fancy GUI 'crutch'. Use a plain vanilla text editor
and treat it like an old-fashioned typewriter. Don't waste time
'playing' with your mouse.
Note: I am NOT saying that you should have no concerns about the
appearance of your document, just that you should *WRITE* the document
(completely) first and tweak the appearance later. Often this means a
handful of preamble macros or possibly a special purpose .sty file, NOT
lots of random editing in the bulk of the document itself. Avoid using
formatting macros (stuff like \vspace or \vskip or \hfill, etc.). Use
only macros that relate to *structure*, like \section{} and
\begin{itemize} \item ... \end{itemize}, etc.
KB>
KB> --
KB> Kevin Benko
KB>
KB> kevin [[at]] efn [[dot]] org
KB>