Help! Novel format in Word?

[Mel L]

Can anyone point me to a resource here on Litopia or elsewhere for non-techie writers to format their ms in Word?
I have been through several edits of my WIP and it's a mess! Now want to clean it up but not sure about the best approach.
I see that Word has a novel template (duh!) but not sure if it's the best one to use. Any suggestions welcome!

 

[RK Wallis]

I don't do anything too technical. I press Control+A (that highlights the entire document) then I'll select the font/size I want (that'll streamline the MS) then with my ruler turned on I set the margin/indent. Of course, that won't set no indent for the beginning of chapters. Someone else may have better ideas though good luck!

 

[CageSage]

I don't have the search function atm, but I'm sure there are posts about using styles, etc. for Word.
If that fails, there's a free book on Smashwords (What Every Author Needs to Know about Microsoft Word Styles, an Ebook by Carla King) - very short demo of how to use styles. Once you've done it a time or two, it's so easy.
The options are to learn it, stick to something very simple, or pay someone.

 

[Hannah F]

On your tool bar, you can press "Design" then the customize option. This allows you to prescribe paragraph indentation (first line hanging) plus font plus line-spacing etc for your whole document. Then save your design to style, so you can just apply your style to each document. Use the style headings for Chapter One, Chapter Two etc. (Plus style for sub-headings if you name your chapters.) That way, it's easy to move around your document using "View" on your tool bar then "Navigation Plane".

 

[Mel L]

I don't do anything too technical. I press Control+A (that highlights the entire document) then I'll select the font/size I want (that'll streamline the MS) then with my ruler turned on I set the margin/indent. Of course, that won't set no indent for the beginning of chapters. Someone else may have better ideas though good luck!

This sounds like something even I could manage -- thanks!

 

[Mel L]

I don't have the search function atm, but I'm sure there are posts about using styles, etc. for Word.
If that fails, there's a free book on Smashwords (What Every Author Needs to Know about Microsoft Word Styles, an Ebook by Carla King) - very short demo of how to use styles. Once you've done it a time or two, it's so easy.
The options are to learn it, stick to something very simple, or pay someone.

Great point! Sometimes it's just a matter of using the right search word. Now I realize there was thread on Styles back in July. But I will definitely watch that tutorial, as styles are something I've never bothered to figure out before. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mel L]

On your tool bar, you can press "Design" then the customize option. This allows you to prescribe paragraph indentation (first line hanging) plus font plus line-spacing etc for your whole document. Then save your design to style, so you can just apply your style to each document. Use the style headings for Chapter One, Chapter Two etc. (Plus style for sub-headings if you name your chapters.) That way, it's easy to move around your document using "View" on your tool bar then "Navigation Plane".

Really helpful, Hannah. I will fiddle with it and see if I can apply this to my 80K word ms. Cheers!

 

[James Charles]

The basic rule is when submitting to agents and editors, make sure it is times new roman, double space, one inch margins all around. Each new chapter should start about about one third down the page...

 

[Peyton Stafford]

First question, if you are not writing in Word, then what are you writing in? That will set the stage for exporting to Word. May be easier than you think. Feel free to PM me...

 

[Mel L]

The basic rule is when submitting to agents and editors, make sure it is times new roman, double space, one inch margins all around. Each new chapter should start about about one third down the page...

Agree with everything except the new chapter starting one-third down the page. Is this really necessary for subs? If you have a lot of chapters that's a lot of wasted white space!

 

[Mel L]

First question, if you are not writing in Word, then what are you writing in? That will set the stage for exporting to Word. May be easier than you think. Feel free to PM me...

Thanks, Peyton! Yes I am writing in Word now (I started drafting in Scrivener then exported it several months ago and stayed in Word for the subsequent drafts.) Think I've solved my issue now with Styles, but admittedly it was not very intuitive. Needs must!

 

[Dorm Ant]

Agree with everything except the new chapter starting one-third down the page. Is this really necessary for subs? If you have a lot of chapters that's a lot of wasted white space!

TBH, I've never heard of this, either.

Also, I find that some agents say double, some say 1.5 spaced, so I have two versions and submit the correct one.

 

[Mel L]

TBH, I've never heard of this, either.

Also, I find that some agents say double, some say 1.5 spaced, so I have two versions and submit the correct one.

Agents' own preferences are more important than standards!

 

[James Charles]

Agree with everything except the new chapter starting one-third down the page. Is this really necessary for subs? If you have a lot of chapters that's a lot of wasted white space!

I was told when submitting to agents and editors, yes. They are most concerend with word count.

 

[CageSage]

The chapter starting 1/3 down the page is generally (or was) for hard-copy ms, and I haven't yet seen a request for that from an e-deposit/submission ms. I would, however, highly recommend making the chapter heading have the 'page break before' in the style. Makes it easier on the person reading.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

This is an issue for all writers. Litopia should provide solid instructions. I use the Chicago Manual of Style, AP, or Microsoft's guide for most nonfiction, but Litopians should have a link to a resource for fiction submissions. Anyone have it?

 

[Hannah F]

I haven't seen requests for starting 1/3 down the page. I have submitted a couple where they don't want attachments at all but your first 10 pages in the body of the text. They do tend to give specific guidelines for font and spacing and chapters or wordcount or if the synopsis is in the same or a separate document plus length of synopsis (which is a max length. You don't have to give them that much. They won't mind at all you being more concise as long as it interests them).

 

[Mel L]

This is an issue for all writers. Litopia should provide solid instructions. I use the Chicago Manual of Style, AP, or Microsoft's guide for most nonfiction, but Litopians should have a link to a resource for fiction submissions. Anyone have it?

I agree guidance is nice! But as these standards vary somewhat between agents and publishers, as well as geographies, perhaps it would be misleading to publish a definitive resource? BTW, I did find a good overall summary on July's craft chat: https://colony.litopia.com/threads/july-–-back-to-basics.11164/