If you need to convert several lines (more than you want to re-type) of old-style text that you need to convert into either ParaText or MText, then you can Control-E / Copy it to the clipboard, Paste it into NotePad, and reselect it with Control-A and Copy Control-C it back to the clipboard. This will then Paste into a ParaText or MText input dialog box all in one go.
Can I change a single line of text to a Paratext without having to create a new element and delete the old one?
We can make lines polylines and vis-a-vis... why not text? It would save me alot of time.