The Dark Side of the PhD: The LaTeX Edition

Despite the somewhat suggestive title of this post, this is not going to be some kind of "50 Shades of Doctoral Study". Instead, in what may or may not become a mini-theme, I'm going to look at one of the hidden difficulties I've so far come across in my PhD; namely, learning how to use the LaTeX program for word processing.

For the uninitiated (and titillated), LaTeX, pronounced [leɪtɛk], is a word processing program which involves using packages and codes to produce documents. It is therefore much less straightforward than a program like Microsoft Word, but produces some very attractive syntax trees, equations and formatting which isn't likely to go straight to hell the moment you open the document on a different computer. Or, as Hannah put it:

LaTeX is a computer programme put on this planet to taunt linguists with its promise of beautifully formatted documents while preventing any chance of making one thanks to endless reams of complex code needed to get there. Guaranteed to make you want to hurl your computer out of a window, but when it works, a hallelujah chorus sounds and everything is wonderful once more.

Which is pretty accurate, really.

Anyway. Learning LaTeX is clearly a necessity, not least because el supervisor is something of a devotee and I, in a paroxysm of boot-licking, promised to use LaTeX for all future documents.

Cue the long, long slog to LaTeX nirvana. First step was trying to drag up from the back of my memory any of the starter stuff I learnt during my MA. Second step was remembering just how important EVERY slash and parenthesis is. Third step was attempting to create a bibliography for the first time. Fourth step was being reminded again JUST HOW IMPORTANT EVERY SLASH AND PARENTHESIS IS.

And rinse and repeat. To spare you the details, I now, with a little help from Moe, Robert, Ruwayshid, Luke and myriad Google searches, have an attractive, well-aligned, Harvard-referenced document just begging to be read. Here's a couple of links that I found useful:

• http://tex.stackexchange.com/ - Forum with a vast amount of very knowledgeable users. Especially if you're starting out, you can be pretty sure that your question has already been answered here.
• http://www.stdout.org/~winston/latex/ - A cheatsheet to help you out with the basic structural bits. I've downloaded it to my desktop for instant easy access (and it is ALWAYS open)
• http://merkel.zoneo.net/Latex/natbib.php - A run-down of commands for use with the natbib bibliography package, making citing easier.

...and there's so many more that I haven't mentioned or haven't yet found, so keep searching and let me know if you find any other corkers.

Now I just have to go and make the content of the document in question as good as its formatting...