BenCrowder.net

I’ve started using Google Docs in earnest again. Before, I hadn’t really used the folders at all, and I’d left everything on the “inbox” page, which made it rather cluttered. But today I organized my folders and put everything in its proper place, then cleaned up the inbox page (dashboard? I don’t know what it’s called) so only the stuff I’m working on shows up. And it feels good. I’m going to start using Google Docs more in my writing process, storing everything there.

One of the things that’s kept me from using Google Docs for my writing, though, is that the default document look — über-wide (well, fitting your browser width) and no white space around the edges — doesn’t jive well with me. It’s tolerable, but not conducive to work.

Luckily I can change it: by clicking on Edit->Edit HTML, I can add a <div> wrapper that looks like this:


<div style="width: 600px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 15px 30px; border-left: solid 1px #eee; border-right: solid 1px #eee; font-family: Arial">
blah blah blah
</div>


(”width” sets the width, obviously; “margin: 0px auto” centers the whole document on the screen; “padding: 15px 30px” gives it some breathing room; the borders act as the edges of the document; and I prefer Arial to Verdana for editing text.)

Anyway, the whole experience feels good (especially with the new Google Docs look for documents), enough of an improvement that I’m actually motivated to use it. Already I can tell that it’s going to become a mainstay of my life as a writer. This is good.

Now if only I could make my <div> hack the default… (And I want styles, so playwriting will be easier. Without styles it’s a heck of a lot of formatting.)