No one told me…About the Formatting

Correct formatting has been raised several times with me recently so as this is a blog for beginners, here it is.

Software Basics

The rules of formatting, remain the same, regardless of which software package you use to type on.

I only use Word, (I don’t know about mac users,I’m certain there is info out there if you are new to it.)

Here are some parts you may need to use in Word if you are unfamiliar with its formatting use.

Style – A new word doc will automatically open on Normal, this will add a line space after each paragraph. You need to click onto No Space, as marked below, to remove that space.   

Paragraph box – this includes the items below.

Alignment – New document will automatically open on Left Alignment as shown.

When you are ready with the finished piece, or if you prefer while typing, you need to change it to Justify. As shown here.

Line spacing – If you changed the style as above, it will now be single or 1.0 spacing. If at any point you want to manually change it, use this button and its dropdown choices.

Check out the competition

I want you to go find a recent novel and study the format used (rules have changed over time, so you need to use the current preferences).

Most current novels generally now follow the same formatting. This helps readers understand the content without having to re-learn with each new writer.

Review for the below:

Start of each chapter: No indent

Start of each paragraph: Should be indented (except for as above)

When to start a new paragraph: after dialogue, new thought, new action.

Spaces between paragraphs: Only used when you change scene, location, view point.

There is a lot more to learn and say about paragraphs – I don’t have a blog on this yet, but there blogs out there, give it a search if you need to. Although by reviewing the novel you have at hand, you should be able to see the formatting required.

Line spacing: For the finished/ published work, it is single spacing.

However, while you are working on or editing a piece, its personal to you, but certainly for editing a hard copy, double space so there is room to hand write notes and amendments.

Text Alignment: Again, while you work on the piece, you can do it as you like, aligned to the left is normal, like this entire blog. Partly because it is non-fiction and they follow different rules but I am no expert in that. When published for fiction, it must be Justified, the text reaches each side of the page neatly and equally. See below.

Example: This makes your finished novel look neat, tidy and easy to read. I cannot find a single example of a fiction novel on my own bookcase where is has not been done. I have some books going back to the 1970s on those shelves and all of them follow the same rule of justified for their text. How wonderful to stick to the rules.

Dialogue: When to use Single or Double quotation marks. (We used to be taught to use double for speech however this seems to have changed in the mainstream to single for speech, and double for a quote within that speech.)

Example:

          ‘It’s like “a rose by any other name” when I think of her.’

          ‘You’re such a drip, it’s more like “nobody puts baby in a corner” when I think of her.’

First quote from Shakespeare, second quote from the Dirty Dancing movie.

Bold: Not really used anymore in fiction but you may decide to use for headings or special names of something, for the first time used only. Or you may decide to use a different text font for this instead.

Example: There we were arriving at the centre of the earth at the newly built Decco Marshall Centre.

Italic: Used for emphasis of an important word or sentence. But be warned, use sparingly and when your writing can’t do the emphasis for itself.

Example:

          ‘I don’t want him to touch me.’ (no emphasis)

          ‘I don’t want, him, to touch me.’ (Emphasis made via the comma pause)

          ‘I don’t want him to touch me.’ Same as above, so I may not need this italic.

          ‘I don’t want him to touch me.’ Implying he can speak to her, or look at her but something is very wrong with his touch. (maybe magical and you die)

Italics can also be used for internal character thoughts or quotes they are remembering. I have seen this technique used exceptionally well in a recent fantasy novel with a first-person viewpoint.

Example:

I wandered through the quiet lonely streets in search of my band of merry men. Why were they always so merry?

No more excuses

There you are, the above will have your formatting ship shape in no time, there are no excuses for anyone who wants to be declaring they are a writer, amateur or not.

Get started and stick to it from now on. It will soon become second nature.

For an exercise to get you in the mood. Open up one of your wonderful stories and format it as above / as per the novel you reviewed.

You may also find it useful to read my post on Active Reading – which you can find in the blog section.