A quick question on formatting

[SDWallwork]

Hi,

I have read a few things on the internet about how to format MS Word to write a manuscript, but just wanted to seek some advice from you guys to see if the stuff I have read is heading in the right direction.

The basic formatting I have read about says that there should be a 1 inch border around the document (which is standard on MS Word), the text should be around pt.12, it should be double spaced and new paragraphs should be indented and not double spaced.

Are there any other major elements I should be aware of that will make a manuscript better?

Thanks in advance

 

[wordwalker]

That about sums it up-- although what you really want is the specific guide that a given editor uses, and follow that religiously.

A few other tips:

The most common manuscript fonts might be the Times New Roman and Courier families, the latter because it makes all characters the same width.

Indent your paragraphs using Word's Paragraph Format setting, not spaces or tabs. Indenting paragraphs one at a time is an accident waiting to happen, and you'll have to undo it anyway if you format it as an ebook.

Left-justify your paragraphs, except for odd lines you want to center.

Don't add extra space at paragraph ends; the uniform Double-Space is all you need. (I think that's what you meant by "new paragraphs should be indented and not double spaced.")

Almost the only font effect you use is italics (for most of typing history authors marked this with underlines for the publisher to change, but this is less common now). You might use small-caps font or a Drop Cap if you like the look of them, but be very careful about using bold. --Edit: actually, I'd stay away from Drop Caps too; an editor may take it as more pushing into their publishing decisions than showing how classy it might look.

Put one space after periods and similar punctuation, not two.

When you break between scenes, don't just skip a line: put some kind of symbol (three centered asterisks is the classic) there to mark it. I've seen readers bewildered by scene breaks that wound up at the page bottom or top.

Start new chapters with a new page, and center the chapter title or such.

The most common header is your last name, the title (or keywords from it), and the page number (starting with the story itself, not the title pages). Eg "Hughes/ The High Road/ p 1". Make the header right-justified.

And, a handy rule of thumb is that a standard-formatted page has about 250 words on it. Very rough figure, of course, and with word count tools so common it's only useful when you're handed a stack of paper.

There's more you can look up, especially about the title page, but this is most of it.

 

[Ireth]

Yes -- make sure you have a readable font as well as the right font size. I believe Courier New or Times New Roman are the most widely accepted. I use Courier New, because apparently it's the easiest for people (read: agents or publishers) to read, since every letter or symbol takes up the exact same amount of space.

EDIT - ninja'd!

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

If you're submitting to a publisher then you need to know and follow their guidelines for submission. Wordwalker has provided you with a very good,l and detailed definition of the norm,l but they will vary from house to house. Some are more strict than others. On occasion, improper submission can leave your work unread, or so it seems from articles I've read,l written by agents and editors.

 

[SDWallwork]

Thanks for the info everyone, much appreciated

One more question. When finishing a chapter is it better to stay in the same document and start on a new page or start a new document and merge them later? I have done both in the past but I have never written something with the intention of submitting of self publishing before.

 

[wordwalker]

That's more a matter of your own process (and being sure you can merge without errors). Myself, I do write a chapter separately, just so I can see that one block's wordcount as it grows-- though that may be a distraction for some.