Every writer has their own preference. For example, I prefer to write with empty lines instead of indents. (There are some disadvantages to that method, but I just find it easier that way.)
Still, you might want to go for the 'official' 'manuscript' format when submitting.
I. Format
1. Block format
My original work, in Google Docs, has been formatted like this (I'll designate this as my preferred 'online' format), and I strongly prefer this format when reading novels online (on platforms such as Wattpad, Royal Road, Tapas, etcetera.)
I also prefer to write in this format, as it gives you a much better control over dialogue tags, and makes it easier to spot mistakes.
It's called the 'block format'.
Publishers often prefer the manuscript as a word document with indented paragraphs, looking like this:
Note: the published e-Book or printed work does NOT follow the same rules as a manuscript. (I'll need to add a few notes about that in the future.)
2. What does the publisher really want?
Ask them! Some care, and some don't. So it's always best to ask.
The following settings are what I found on several websites, and you know it: everything on the Internet is true, until proven otherwise 😅
The fact though is that people seem to disagree on what is the proper format. I've added variations in italics below.
Industry standard
When you think about it... 'Industry standard' basically means at first glance things look the same but we all disagree on the details 😇
3. Don't bother
When you're still writing your novel, then don't worry about the format. You can always change it later. It's best to keep things as simple as possible, focus on writing, not on formatting!
4. Format
Links
Generic
Page format - letter (US) / A4 (EU)
Page Margins - 1" / 2.5 cm all around (this is the default in Word)
Line spacing - double spaced
Font - Times New Roman 12 pt
Italics - use italics if you need them, do not use underlined text to indicate italics
Indentation - 1" / 2.5 cm, do not use the Tab key but format your document
Note: some sites suggest an indentation of 0.5" / 1.25 cm, personally I think that looks better.
Front page
Front page - agent information (if any, top left), novel information (center, use pen name), contact information (right bottom, use real name), no page number. The front page has NO page number. The first page of the story is page 1.
Note: some sites suggest to put author information top left, I suggest to do the same, it simply looks better. If you have an agent he / she will tell you how to do it properly (and you wouldn't be reading this anyway 😉).
Note: some sites suggest to include copyright information, some say to leave it off as anything you write is automatically copyrighted.
Regular page
Header with author's name, title, and page number.
Note: some suggest it the other way around - title, author's name, page number.
Note: some pages suggest to align the header to the right side, some to spread the elements.
Indents
Do NOT indent the first line of a chapter.
Do NOT indent the first line of a paragraph following a (major) scene change which is marked with # or * * *.
Do indent the first line of all other paragraphs.
Note: some sites suggest to leave indentation to the publisher, and keep all paragraphs indented in the submitted manuscript. Check with the publisher.
Chapter start
Keep roughly 30% of the page emtpy, then the chapter title or number, then one or more empty lines, then the start of the text.
On the page before the chapter start, use Ctrl + Shift + Enter in Word (column break) to enforce a new page.
Note: some pages suggest to use Chapter N - Chapter Title on the same line, most suggest to spread it over two lines
Note: some sites suggest to place the title at the top line, followed by a number of empty lines, some suggest to move the title lower into the empty space. I prefer the latter.
Scene breaks
A ' # ' sign centered on a line.
Of course, if the publisher wants to see anything else as a scene break, then use whatever they want. Write with the '#', then just before submitting replace it with whatever is required.
Note: some pages suggest to add an empty line before and after, this has my personal preference.
Note: some sites suggest to use * * * or - - - but this may confuse word processors. Don't do during editing, but DO change it to whatever the publisher wants.
Note: some sites suggest not to use scene breaks at all, but use an empty line instead. This would make it impossible to discern between a minor scene change (empty line) and a major scene change (time skip etc. typically marked by # or * * *). Check what the publisher wants.
Last page
A few empty lines, then THE END, centered.
5. Example
Click to enlarge.
II. Converting from one format to another
(For em-dash and curly quotes follow this link.)
0. Word bug
There's an inconvenient bug in some versions of Word, that only plagues some users. If you're on of them, poor soul... Sometimes it shows up, and then it's gone again.
It affects the 'search and replace' functionality. If Word does not seem to recognize the special characters, such as ^p, then do the following:
Step 1
1. Make sure 'wildcards' is switched off in the replace dialog
2. Add a few lines with each line a single character to the start of your document
3. Do a search / replace for ^p with ^p^p
From this point on it should work fine again.
If the above doesn't fix the problem, do the following:
Step 2
1. Create a new document
2. Make sure 'wildcards' is switched off in the replace dialog
3. Add a few lines with each line a single character to the start of your document
4. Do a search / replace for ^p with ^p^p
5. Load your document, and try the replace again on your document
I know, it doesn't make any sense. But this fixed the problem for me every time...
1. From Docs 'online' to Word 'indented paragraphs'
I'll add more if I run into them...
1.1 Save as Word
Advantage: italics and bold stay in place
Disadvantage: complex formatting in Docs may confuse Word (but you shouldn't do that in Docs anyway)
Steps
1. Download as Microsoft Word .docx
2. Open the downloaded file in Word
3. Mark the whole text
4. Apply the 'Normal' style (Home ribbon / Styles / ...), you'll keep italics but may lose anything bold.
5. Right click the 'Normal' style
6. Modify
7. Format / Paragraph
8. Indentation / Special: First Line
9. Set indentation to 0.5" (check publisher's preferences)
10. Ok, Ok
11. Home ribbon / Editing / Replace
12. More
13. In the Find and Replace window, go to the Replace tab
14. Tick 'Use wildcards'
15. Find what: (^13)^13{1,}
16. Replace with: \1
17. Replace All
18. Check all pages for possible issues
Note: search / replace should also work with ^p^p to ^p
1.2 Copy / paste to Word
Advantage: no strange left-over formatting codes
Disadvantage: more work, you may lose bold and italics.
Steps
1. Mark and copy inside Google Docs
2. Paste into Word
3. Mark the whole text
4. Apply the 'Normal' style (Home ribbon / Styles / ...)
5. Right click the 'Normal' style
6. Modify
7. Format / Paragraph
8. Indentation / Special: First Line
9. Set indentation to 0.5" (or 0.25", check with the publisher)
10. Ok, Ok
11. Home ribbon / Editing / Replace
12. More
13. In the Find and Replace window, go to the Replace tab
14. Tick 'Use wildcards'
15. Find what: (^13)^13{1,}
16. Replace with: \1
17. Replace All
18. Check all pages for possible issues
2. From Word 'indented paragraph' to Docs 'online'
Disadvantage: you loose minor scene breaks (empty lines between paragraphs)
Note: you can simply copy from Word to Google Docs but you will lose your italics.
Steps
1. Load the document into Word
2. Select the whole document
3. Set line spacing to 1
4. Home ribbon / Editing / Replace
5. Find what: ^p
6. Replace with: ^p^p
7. Find ^p^p^p
8. Replace with ^p^p
9. Home ribbon, modify 'Normal' style
10. Format / Paragraph / Indentation / Special: First Line, set to 0.
11. Go to the front page (page 0)
12. Insert ribbon / Header & Footer / Header / Remove Header
13. Insert ribbon / Header & Footer / Header / Remove Footer
14. Go to page 1 (the start of your story)
15. Remove headers and footers here as well
16. Save the Word document under a new name
17. Open Google Docs
18. File / Open / Upload
19. Drag and drop your Word document onto Google Docs
3. From Word 'indented' to Docs 'indented'
Advantage: easy
Disadvantage: you'll lose bold text, though italics might stay (not a problem when working on a manuscript)
Steps
1. Open Google Docs
2. File / Open / Upload
3. Drag and drop your Word document onto Google Docs
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