There were a couple of odd things that happened during the refresh of Sweet Baby Lover. I wondered if Trent may have been involved, or if it was just my wishful thinking.
The first happened with the paperback version of the book. It’s a known flaw that Microsoft Word struggles with documents over 100 pages if there are multiple sections.
For example, icons in the toolbar can stop working. You have to use keyboard commands instead. At least Microsoft is upfront about it on their help pages.
One struggle was with automatic page numbering. After 200 pages, when exporting from Word to PDF, either Microsoft or Adobe added an extra blank page between sections. It wanted to make sure the next section was starting on the right-hand side, even though it was already on the right. The additional blank page pushed it to the left and added a useless page.
For the other issues (e.g., the nonfunctioning icons), I found solutions on help pages. But not for this issue. I worked on it for two days. The document still exported wrong. It was the only thing holding it up from sending it to print.
On the third day, instead of asking, “Where on the internet can I find the answer?” I asked, “Might there be a reason Trent isn’t happy with this chapter?”
Instead of more Googling, I reread chapter 33. There were two problems. The chapter didn’t make clear:
- Trent’s reaction to Jenna’s decision to move back in with her mother, nor
- How happy Trent was the day he, Justin, and Jeremy felled eleven trees and pulled out their roots.
After I filled in what was missing, the chapter was longer. It flowed onto another page. When I exported to PDF, the blank page problem didn’t happen. The issue was solved.
The logical explanation is that at over 200 pages, MS Word gets confused about section breaks. The woo-woo explanation is that Trent wanted a change made to the story.
Chewing the Cud of Good
Thankful for buds that open.
