I got these tips from a very prolific author on AO3, Archive of Our Own

https://archiveofourown.org/

They suggested the following tips in your creative writing, when using Office on a computer screen, which I would say, nearly all writers today do. I couldn't tell you the last time I used a typewriter.

First of all, adjust your brightness to your liking. Obviously.

Next, in your document, set the background color to a light tone of your favorite color. In my case, green. A very light green.

The font comes next, and is probably the most important part.

I once saw a post that said that MS Comic Sans should only be used by young girls writing stories about unicorns.

Well, this is the font I use. I was a comic book kid, and this font is nearly identical to that.

The author offering these tips stated that for them, using these tips enhanced their creativity, extended their ability to spend time writing, and reduced eyestrain.

I tried it, and they were right.

As my dear proofreaders (Valery among them) can attest, when I get on a roll, I can spin out quite a bit of work in a week or two.

For those who are writing, I'd recommend you try this.

Of course, you can use the font of your choice, as it won't matter for Archive stories. The system will reset the font. But it could make life much easier for you!

If you use a non-standard font in your letter, then don't be surprised when the mail robot (it just couldn't read!) puts your letter in the Spam folder of your recipient's mailbox.

I always check the contents of the Spam folder in my mailbox!

Agreed on checking the spam folder - I know my mail provider's filter has a lot of trouble telling the difference between ham and spam...

It is also worth noting that at least in LibreOffice, it isn't hard to do a global font change, so you can compose in whatever font works best for your eyes and then switch to something more standard before sending...

WheelyCurious

Thanks Paolo.

I like you MS Comic San, as it seems to help with my dyslexic disability whilst typing.

I don't understand why there's so much "hate" for Comic Sans. I like the font. I can't say I use it all the time (I use different fonts for different purposes), but I have used it a lot.

I find it easy to read, especially for signs in the workplace (such as "Please don't leave dirty dishes in the sink!").

Oh, and speaking of Unicorns, here's one for those that complain about Comic Sans:

https://unstableunicorns.fandom.com/wik ... he_Unicorn

That's hilarious!

sorry for posting late

Paolo wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 5:51 pm The font comes next, and is probably the most important part.

...

Of course, you can use the font of your choice, as it won't matter for Archive stories. The system will reset the font. But it could make life much easier for you!

Just a comment about fonts. Some fonts make certain characters all look the same, like 0,0,1,|,|,",“,”,-,—,– etc. If you care about proofreading, some things that don't show up when everything looks the same are obvious when the font shows them as different. If one of the fonts you like for writing shows such characters as clearly different, it might make things easier. (Don't worry about proofreaders/editors, they can change the font to something they like. ) And if you'd prefer not to worry about such things yourself, I won't mention it unless you want me to proofread it for you. Paolo can speak officially, of course.

There's nothing that says the font you use for writing has to be the same font you use when submitting or showing it to your friends. The one for writing is for you. I would submit that some fonts (especially at some sizes) are easier for other people to read. Just because you can write better using 'comic sans' or a font designed for the dyslexic doesn't mean you have to submit to the public that way. (See www(dot)weareteachers(dot)com/best-fonts-for-dyslexia/ or just google 'fonts for dyslexic'. Yes, it is possible to also set your browser to default to one of them or any other font that works better for reading for you. See 'Stylebot' among others. Sometimes the publisher of a page makes it unnecessarily hard for you to do that, but most are fairly easy.)

gellyfregy (imported) wrote: Tue Feb 06, 2024 9:56 am sorry for posting late

Just a comment about fonts. Some fonts make certain characters all look the same, like 0,0,1,|,|,",“,”,-,—,– etc. If you care about proofreading, some things that don't show up when everything looks the same are obvious when the font shows them as different. If one of the fonts you like for writing shows such characters as clearly different, it might make things easier. (Don't worry about proofreaders/editors, they can change the font to something they like. ) And if you'd prefer not to worry about such things yourself, I won't mention it unless you want me to proofread it for you. Paolo can speak officially, of course.

There's nothing that says the font you use for writing has to be the same font you use when submitting or showing it to your friends. The one for writing is for you. I would submit that some fonts (especially at some sizes) are easier for other people to read. Just because you can write better using 'comic sans' or a font designed for the dyslexic doesn't mean you have to submit to the public that way. (See www(dot)weareteachers(dot)com/best-fonts-for-dyslexia/ or just google 'fonts for dyslexic'. Yes, it is possible to also set your browser to default to one of them or any other font that works better for reading for you. See 'Stylebot' among others. Sometimes the publisher of a page makes it unnecessarily hard for you to do that, but most are fairly easy.)

I will second this - not so much for writing, as I don't do a lot where it's critical, but I find it a ROYAL pain when trying to find technical info on some part or device I have in my hand - is that part number using 0 or O, 1 or l, and so on.... I thought it was great when I worked in places that explicitly prohibited the use of these sorts of confusing characters in part / serial numbers.... I also try to find fonts in general that do things like slashed 0's and otherwise make the characters as distinctive as possible...

WheelyFixed