{Barbara Beeton}
{What every \LaTeX\ newbie should know}
{\LaTeX\ has a reputation for producing excellent results, but at the
cost of a steep learning curve.  That's true, but by understanding a
few basic principles, and learning how to avoid some techniques that
may seem obvious but often lead one into the weeds, it's possible to
avoid some of that pain.

Among the concepts to be covered are these:
%\begin{itemize}
\item Why is \verb|\\| not a good way to end paragraphs?
\item Why use \verb|\newcommand| rather than \verb|\def|?
\item Why do some spaces in your input cause problems?
\item How to use style changes effectively, and limit them to
   exactly where you want them.
%\end{itemize}

Very few packages will be discussed, but the concepts covered should
be compatible with whatever packages you choose to employ. regardless
of your field of interest.

This talk is based on years of looking at good and bad document input
and output, answering questions from problem-plagued authors, and
trying to write documentation that can be understood on first reading.
}