- Joined
- Mar 7, 2012
- Messages
- 91
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- Bay Area, CA
- Website
- clickthing.blogspot.com
You can import/export from Word to Google Docs, but the translation isn't perfect, and sometimes it just Doesn't Work for me, though those instances are diminishing. Word uses a proprietary format, after all, and Microsoft -- or any software company -- would rather you use their product instead of someone else's. You'll have better luck if you downgrade the file to something like RTF before transferring to Google Docs. Oh, and don't do anything that Google doesn't like, or they can shut down your whole account, including docs access. Always have a backup in your physical possession that you control.
Personally, I do all my writing in portable formats, like plain text files.* The "typesetting" stage comes later, when I make a prettified version for ebooks or POD or whatever. But the original MS stays as good-old compatible-with-everything plain text. I've read too much from authors who complain about not being able to read files from just five or ten years ago, because they're in a format that's not supported, saved by software that doesn't exist any more.
* OK, technically I type my drafts on paper: the ultimate compatible document.
