Formatting novel manuscripts

Tonight I decided to make good on my promise to help out other aspiring writers, and I am sharing what information I have gathered on how to format the manuscript for a novel. For those who need clarification bear in mind that novel almost always means fiction. I will try to cover nonfiction in a later post.

Much of the information I have gathered comes from a useful book, Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript, 2nd edition, by Cynthia Laufenberg and the Editors of Writer's Digest Books. I recommend this book highly. It's well worth the $19.99 you'll pay or a new copy, and you can probably find it cheap used. Knowing this stuff is important because formatting your manuscript properly can easily give you an edge over a lot of the unpublished writers out there who play fast and loose with the rules. Sticking to proper formatting greatly increases your chance of getting published.

With that out of the way I'll get to the topic at hand. There are specific formatting tips that I would recommend that any aspiring writer should stick to. Remember, while creativity in writing is appreciated, it is universally hated in formatting. Stick to what is common. Otherwise, you risk alienating any potential agent or publisher. Having said that I know some books require odd formatting, but most don't. Avoid it whenever possible.

Stick to 1 inch margins on all sides. To change those in Microsoft Word you need to go to file, and then Page Setup. You can change your margins there, and can make it easier on yourself by setting 1 inch on all sides as the default.

It is also important to include a title page. I'll specifically address the formatting to this seemingly simple but surprisingly complicated page in the future.

Number the pages of the book. Not the title page. Start numbering with the first chapter, introduction, prologue, or whatever is the first official part of the book. It is common to put the page number in the top right corner of every page.

On the same line as the number (in the page header) your last name and book title should be on the left. Example- Smith/KILLER MONKEYS FROM SPACE. Yes, I am aware I capped the book title. I meant to. It's proper formatting.

Never have two chapters on one page. Start each chapter on its own page, and one-third of the way down on said page.

Also, a good way to make sure that each chapter stays on its own pages is bY using CTRL+ENTER. By doing this as the end of each chapter it automatically inserts a page break. It can save lots of time in editing.

The first part of each chapter page should be the chapter title, and the chapter name (should one exist). Example of this in proper formatting: CHAPTER 1--KILLER MONKEYS EAT BRAINS Once again, all CAPS is intentional, as is the two hyphens.

After the chapter title begin the first paragraph of the chapter four to six lines below the chapter title. When indenting for each new paragraph, indent five spaces. It's possible to get your tab button to automatically indent five spaces so that it is not necessary to press the space bar five times each time. I highly recommend taking this step.

If something in your text needs tO be italicized then it should be underlined in the manuscript.

This should be obvious, bu don't single space. Double space. Always double space.

The final, and perhaps most important formatting tip, is to use a standard font. It is commonly accepted to stick to 10- or 12 point Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier. I'd recommend sticking to Times New Roman because some agents and publishers are biased against anything else. Times New Roman is quickly becoming the standard.

There you go. Those are the basics for formatting a novel. Don't ask why these are the rules. There is not a reason. They just are the rules. Follow them, and it will help you out. If I didn't answer any questions you have about formatting feel free to ask me. I'll answer the best I can. Also, feel free to correct me if I was wrong about something. I don't want to lead anyone in the wrong direction.

Taylor