It takes a shovel to format a novel. The shovel is what keeps me sane through cryptic error messages, corrupted documents, and instructions that were never designed for Word for Mac. Through things that worked yesterday that no longer work today. Through margins that refused to justify properly and page numbers that appeared where page numbers should not. Through endless proofreading. Through tasks that require a patience and precision that does not come naturally to me.

When Word goes squirrelly, there’s nothing like a shovel. Go out and dig and get your blood circulating. If you put a foot down wrong, all of the dirt will not pop back to where it was when you started. The simple instructions for Shovel 2007 are the same as they were for Shovel 2004—and shovel 1504 for that matter. No need to google “troubleshoot shovel dig.”

Before you lose your mind, go get a shovel. But please don’t hit anyone with it.