Every time I get ready to type, a typing box appears, distors my work, and I can't get the usual blank page without this outline of a dotted box! HOw do I get rid of the box and the anchor figures?

I believe that the dotted boxes you are describing are the so-called text boundaries. You can turn those off by clearing the option "Show text boundaries" at File > Options > Advanced.

If you are also seeing nonprinting marks (such as a ¶ at the end of each paragraph), you can hide them by clearing all the boxes under "Always show these formatting marks on the screen" at File > Options > Display.

If stefan's reply does not fix your problem, please give us a screen capture of the problem. Reduce the size of your Word window before the capture so it is easier to see the problem to try to diagnose it.