Can't control list styles in Word 2013

[Ritergal]

I am unable to figure out how to edit anything to make a list consistently behave at various levels within a single document. I have tried editing the list paragraph style. That works for existing bullets, but as soon as I add a new bullet, the entire list snaps back to default.

I tried defining a new list style and that has the same problem. It works for the contents of the list I'm in when I define it, but new bullets go back to default. Aaargh!

I did set File > Options > Advanced to use normal style for bulleted or numbered lists. I thought that helped, but not so.

How can I set a list with bullets and indentations of my choosing that will remain stable? I'm working on a book and can't go back and use the paintbrush to fix things when I'm done.

 

[macropod]

I'd be inclined to define a series of paragraph Styles with the desired bullet & indent formats, then apply those Styles wherever they're needed. Using Styles has the advantage that, should you decide to change the bullet or indenting at a given level, all you need do is change the Style definition; not every paragraph with a given format as you would if you just applied the bulleting to particular formats defined in some other Style.