Know How to Format Your Manuscript - Part 2

Here are a few basic guidelines to follow for formatting your manuscript:

1.    Use a common font like Times New Roman in size 11 or 12.

2.    Double space your manuscript using your word processor’s line spacing feature.

3.    Insert only one space after the end of a sentence, not two.

4.    Don’t insert spaces before or after an emdash.

5.    Use a hard return only after the end of a paragraph.

6.    Italicize foreign words.

7.    Italicize internal thoughts.

8.    Don’t indent by hitting the space bar.

Big hint: if you use Word, keep the “show paragraph symbol” feature turned on. You’ll be able to see all your returns and breaks. Some people don’t like the distraction of seeing the paragraph symbols on their page, but for me it’s much more of a help than a hindrance.

If your word processing skills are weak, do something about it. There are tons of resources online. If you’re part of a writers’ organization like RWA, find another writer to help you. If you’ve been offered a contract and are unsure how your manuscript should be formatted, ask your editor for guidelines.

But don’t just ignore the problem. Don’t just assume that someone else will “fix” all your mistakes.

Having good word processing skills will let publishers, editors and agents know you’re a professional writer. You may get a book contract without such skills, but having these skills will increase your chances and will also make your relationship with your editor run much more smoothly. In this day and age, being a successful writer entails knowing much more than just being able to tell a story. You need to know how to format, how to use punctuation and grammar, and once you become published, you’ll need to know how to do promotion. This entails having a website, knowing how to do social media, blogging, and all sorts of other skills.

Having good computer skills can also help you in other ways. I got my last job (as an office assistant) because the people who interviewed me were impressed with the computer skills I had taught myself as a writer.

~~Jaye