The reason I want Word to die is that until it does, it is unavoidable. I do not
write novels using Microsoft Word. I use a variety of other tools, from
Scrivener (a program designed for managing the structure and editing of large
compound documents, which works in a manner analogous to a programmer’s
integrated development environment if Word were a basic text editor) to classic
text editors such as Vim. But somehow, the major publishers have been browbeaten
into believing that Word is the sine qua non of document production systems.
They have warped and corrupted their production workflow into using Microsoft
Word .doc [.docx] files as their raw substrate, even though this is a file
format ill-suited for editorial or typesetting chores. And they expect me to
integrate myself into a Word-centric workflow, even though it’s an
inappropriate, damaging, and laborious tool for the job. It is, quite simply,
unavoidable. And worse, by its very prominence, we become blind to the
possibility that our tools for document creation could be improved. It has held
us back for nearly 25 years already; I hope we will find something better to
take its place soon.
