Big File Question!!!

[JT Woody]

My manuscript is 205 pages. I got back comments and edits from an editor (16k comments and changes).
Document keeps crashing!

It is currently on Google Docs.... so I downloaded it and tried to open it on Word. I get to page 7 before it force reloads.

I don't know how else to open it, and I don't know how else to view the feedback.

Any suggestions?

 

[JT Woody]

I've also tried:

• restarting my computer
• X-ing out of all of my tabs
• Closing out of Chrome and opening it in Edge

 

[Trish]

I've also tried:

• restarting my computer
• X-ing out of all of my tabs
• Closing out of Chrome and opening it in Edge

Try opening it in incognito mode? Sometimes you have extensions or ad blockers that can cause issues.

 

[Banespawn]

Can you view it in google docs? Can you copy and paste it into word?

 

[JT Woody]

I figured it out!!

after 2 hours, I finally got it to STAY open long enough for me to split it in half.
one doc has the first 12 chapters, and the other has the last.
So far so good!


(I ended up downloading it as a Docx, then opened it on an off-brand Word called "WPS." I couldnt duplicate the file, so I "saved as" a different file and deleted half the document on that one, and then deleted the other half on the other document. then reuploaded them back into Google Drives. good grief!)

 

[Mogador]

I'd always advise making regular back ups in a plain text format so whatever happens, even if part of the file gets corrupted, you can rescue the rest. Word format and other similar formats is actually a ZIP folder that's been renamed XLXS, meaning coruption of part of the file can make the rest unrecoverable.

 

[JT Woody]

I'd always advise making regular back ups in a plain text format so whatever happens, even if part of the file gets corrupted, you can rescue the rest. Word format and other similar formats is actually a ZIP folder that's been renamed XLXS, meaning coruption of part of the file can make the rest unrecoverable.

I still have the original email from the editor with the files. That email is my back up if anything should happen to the file

 

[DLC]

Word doesn't always play nice if it was created on another program like open office or google docs. That's all i got

 

[JT Woody]

Well..... the good news is that the doc isn't crashing anymore.

more annoying news is, its taken me nearly 3 hours just to get through 13 pages (it keeps freezing)

 

[Madman Starryteller]

Have you tried installing Open Office and copying the text over into an Open Office document? I've never had issues with Open Office in all my 10+ years of writing. (Knock on wood.)

Or you could try to split the text up chapter by chapter. So 1 file for each chapter?

 

[JT Woody]

Open Office

Apache Open Office?

copying the text over into an Open Office document

Would copy/pasting it transfer over the comments and edits from the editor or only the text?

Or you could try to split the text up chapter by chapter. So 1 file for each chapter?

this is going to take hours
I can barely move 2 pages without it freezing. I did think about splitting the doc up further, though....

 

[Madman Starryteller]

Apache Open Office?

Yes, that's the one.

Would copy/pasting it transfer over the comments and edits from the editor or only the text?

Hmmm, I don't actually know. I think you should be able to open word documents with Open Office, at least older ones, not sure.

You could try to open the document via Open Office, see if that works?


Another solution would be to instantly as you open the document, export it as a PDF, I don't know if the comments will follow, though?

EDIT: AND ALSO MAKE SURE YOU KEEP BACKUPS. So you don't lose anything as you try things.

 

[Trish]

Can you ask the editor to send it to you as a different file type? I assume you paid for this service, and it's not that hard to save something as a different file type that you might actually be able to open more easily. That's what I would do if I was having this much trouble. The editor's work only has value if you can actually access it.

 

[Mogador]

LibreOffice is the newer, better maintained and geniunely free continuation of Open Office (though I think the latter still exists too).