: Re: Is it better to save each chapter in a separate word document or all in one document? I'm new here. In the past, I've written countless articles for newspapers, and I almost never needed to

@Gail2416123

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I would use one document to re-edit all chapters, all 502 pages.

less effort: you don't have to open multiple files, searching and looking back is faster. On the other you may get distracted faster.
less messy: only need one file which has all chapters.
less risk on file naming mistakes. Be sure to use good file naming. E.g. my-book-edit-20180201.doc or my-book-edit-ch07.doc

Considering you would need about two months to edit everything you should treat it as a project. You could use project management or note taking software (e.g. OneNote or Google Keep). Alternatively, use pen and paper to take notes and log difficulties.

To manage the content:

outline: an outline at the left (or right) side helps with navigation and can be clicked to easily switch between chapters and see how the chapters are linearly organized.
comments: MS word and Google Docs allow to input comments which can be resolved. Very useful to manage and review edits in one log.
version control: Google Docs has version control allowing you to view previous versions.
file searching: Ctrl+F quickly brings you to what you want to find. This is more efficient in one file.
search & replace: Ctrl+H globally replace all characters you want to change. This is faster done in one file, unless you only want to change characters in only one chapter.
headlines parsing: if you need to have chapters in separate files a simple Python or Ruby script can identify headlines and parse the data. Also there may be add-ons available in MS Word and Google Docs to this.

Good luck!

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