Document Mapping and Outlining

Writers sorta come from two points of view--some of us outline, some of us don't. I'm lucky in my professional life because the books I write have standard sections. The front matter and back matter are similar from book to book with the chapters in the center based on the system I'm documenting.

For most of you, I imagine that you would write a family history as a standalone book and you might want to outline because it helps you. You can use the Document Map to aid in this process. Again, this post assumes that you have applied Heading styles...the backbone of so many Word functions.

You can move a section and all of its associated text to a new location. For example, in the map above, if I grab Moving to Illinois and move it below Sailing to New York, Word also moves all text under the heading Moving to Illinois.

To Move Text

1. Click an entry in the list and do not release your mouse button.
2. Move your pointer to a new location to drag the entry to that new location.
3. Release your mouse button. 

To Add a New Section

1. Right-click an entry in the list. The pop-up appears. 
2. Click New Heading Before or New Heading After. A blank entry appears in the list of entries and the document scrolls to that location.
3. Type the new heading. When you press the Enter key, you get a new line to start the running text for the section. 

To Promote or Demote an Entry in the List

1. Right-click an entry in the list. The pop-up appears.
2. Click Promote or Demote to apply the next heading level up or down to the text. 

To Expand and Collapse the List 

Be sure to notice that the list includes Expand All and Collapse All options.

1. Right-click an entry in the list. The pop-up appears.
2. Click Show Heading Levels. The levels appear on a separate list.
3. Click Show Heading 1 levels. The list collapses to show only Heading 1 entries. When you have only Heading 1 levels showing, you can rearrange the headings. Word moves the Heading 1 entry, associated text, and any Heading 2, 3, etc. and associated text. You are rearranging chapters. 
4. To expand the list again, repeat the steps above and select Show Heading 3 level.  

To Delete

Use caution when deleting from the list. When you delete a heading, Word deletes all associated text. 

1. Right-click an entry in the list. The pop-up appears.
2. Click Delete. Word deletes the heading and all associated text. 

Conclusion

While I don't always feel the need to use the map, it's nice to know it's there when I need it.