I am in the midst of re-formatting my writing (novels and scripts) from my WordPerfect days (1989-1996).

McPhedran computer, circa 1991 (note WordPerfect file)

Unfortunately, I did not properly convert the files from WordPerfect 4.2 to Microsoft Word, and so now I am faced with the ugly and painstaking task of changing the text line by line, character by character. I start with this:

Þ_@ÞÃ_*’ÃTRAVISƒà__àà__àRelax, relax. Stay
cool.Þ_@ÞÃ_*’ÃCORINNEƒà__àà__àCool? I’m the
fuckin’…coolest.Þ_@ÞÃ_*’ÃRAYMONDƒÃ_*_Ã(holding his bleeding
neck)ƒà__àà__àTravis…Þ_@ÞÃ_*’ÃTRAVISƒÃ_*_Ã(looking into the hotel
room)ƒà__àà__àMr. Quati? Mr. Quati! You all
right?Þ_@ÞÃ_*&ÃSAVANNAHƒÃ_*#Ã(from the room)ƒà__àà__àHe’s unconscious,
Travis.Þ_@ÞÃ_*’ÃTRAVISƒà__àà__àWhat the hell’s going on here!?

I get it back to this:

TRAVIS

Relax, relax. Stay cool.

CORINNE

Cool? I’m the fuckin’…coolest.

 RAYMOND

(Holding his bleeding neck)

Travis…

TRAVIS

(Looking into the hotel room)

Mr. Quati? Mr. Quati! You all right?

 SAVANNAH

(From the room)

He’s unconscious, Travis.

TRAVIS

What the hell’s going on here!?

It’s effective practice because it forces me to pick through the text, as painful as that might be. I’m the fuckin’…coolest??(And that’s not even close to the worst of it.)