Earlier than you will have a printed e-book, you will have a manuscript.
In my earlier article I talked about how a manuscript is a specialised doc utilized by three kinds of individuals: authors, editors, and structure designers. That’s it, nobody else. The general public ought to by no means see your manuscript.
To recap:
* Authors create manuscripts and may share them with their early readers.
* Editors edit manuscripts.
* Structure designers convert manuscripts into galleys and books.
What can presumably go flawed with manuscript formatting?
I’ll begin with the apparent. While you write it’s all about you: you and your muse, you and your keyboard, you studying aloud to the cat. When you ship your manuscript to another person—an editor, a structure designer, and even an early reader—it’s now not all about you. Now there may be another person to contemplate.
Many artistic authors recoil on the thought that writing, when you get to the purpose of involving another person, turns into a enterprise; you might be paying somebody for skilled providers, and/or you’ll obtain cost on your product. There’s a degree at which the logical, enterprise facet of your mind must take over from the creative facet. Are you considering “Oh, that’s simply not me!”? Nicely, recover from it.
Your very first transfer in entering into your skilled persona is to run a spell-checker. If editors get a manuscript ablaze with crimson and inexperienced squiggly underlines—sure, they’ll decide you.
Working a spell-checker is easy while you do it and revealing while you don’t.
What’s so unhealthy about Phrase?
Nothing. It’s sensible, as they are saying in England.
A part of why it’s so good is that it may automate many actions for you. If you happen to can change one setting and have Phrase mechanically make adjustments all through your manuscript, why wouldn’t you utilize it? Why would you make the identical change time and again, in each paragraph?
However that’s precisely what so many authors do.
If you happen to can change one setting and have Phrase mechanically make adjustments all through your manuscript, so can your editor, so can your structure designer. Do you actually wish to pay them as an alternative to make repetitive adjustments?
However, I hear you say there are one million and one settings in Phrase!
Oh sure. However for a manuscript you’ll be able to ignore most settings because you don’t want them.
Then again, it’s essential to become familiar with the few you do want.
The Good, The Dangerous, and The Ugly
There are variations to this theme. At all times comply with your manuscript necessities.
Disclaimer: This isn’t a Phrase tutorial. There could also be alternate methods to alter these settings. Discover the methods you might be most snug with that obtain the identical outcomes.
Settings for the entire doc – Issues to do as soon as
Margins
* Earlier than you begin typing, go to the Margins settings and select 1″ margins all spherical, or regardless of the editor has requested for.
Font
* Earlier than you begin typing, choose the entire doc. Sure, it ought to solely consist of 1 paragraph return at this level. Do it anyway. Go to the left-hand facet of the web page till the cursor adjustments route. Ctrl+Click on so issues turns blue (or simply do Ctrl+A).
Now go to the Font Settings, select your font and dimension.
Now go to the Paragraph settings. Select Left justification, First line indent 0.5″, Spacing Double.
Headers and Footers
* Insert your heading (often your title and the title of your e-book) and, except advised in any other case, put the web page quantity within the heading.
Okay, you can begin typing now.
Until you’ve handled manuscripts from the opposite facet, you will have little thought how a lot of a very good begin that is. Your editor or structure designer will thanks.
Utilizing Kinds: Issues to do a couple of times
Generally you have to differentiate between sections of the textual content. The one one I’d suggest is between the principle textual content and a chapter title.
Kinds
Relying in your model of Phrase, utilizing Kinds will be very straightforward.
* Select a heading fashion and use it for all chapter names.
* If you happen to can, outline the fashion to be precisely like the principle textual content aside from the font dimension (14 or 16 level is ok).
Doesn’t this break the principles? Sure. However you probably have used a Type, it may be corrected with a single motion for the entire doc. The structure designer doesn’t must make a repetitive change to every chapter title.
Including decorations and formatting: Belongings you by no means do
* Don’t sort ornamental traces that go throughout the web page.
How broad is a web page? Your manuscript web page is 8.5″ broad with 6.5″ of textual content. Your e-book is likely to be 6″ with 5″ of textual content. Refill that 6.5″ manuscript line with asterisks and your e-book may have one line of 5″ and a second line of 1.5″ beneath if somebody doesn’t take away it.
* Don’t sort two areas after a interval.
Ah, a deeply ingrained behavior… You don’t want to do that anymore. The truth is, should you can, go to the Phrase autocorrect settings and have Phrase substitute one house each time you sort two. Then you’ll be able to sort them and nobody else has to take them out.
* Don’t indent a primary line by typing areas or tabs. (This alone will achieve you a lot factors within the afterlife.)
If you happen to indent particular person paragraphs by spacing or tabbing reasonably than studying the way to do it for the entire doc by way of the paragraph settings, the next issues can go flawed:
* You’ll sort extra areas than you supposed.
* You’ll sort fewer areas than you supposed.
* You’ll neglect to indent the paragraph in any respect.
* You’ll tab yet one more or one lower than you supposed. The outcomes may even look okay in your display screen, relying on how Phrase is feeling that day.
Do any of those and, in case your structure designer isn’t cautious, you will notice ragged indents when studying by way of the e-book.
Your structure designer must undergo your manuscript, paragraph by paragraph, and take out all of the areas and/or tabs. Then she’s going to apply a world indent, which is what you need to have performed within the first place.
The bonus penalties are:
* You may have wasted lots of time typing areas and tabs and worrying concerning the indent. You’re pissed off at Phrase as a result of it by no means appears to be like fairly proper.
* Your structure designer has wasted lots of time taking out areas and tabs and hates you.
Don’t imbed photos.
* Phrase takes management of your picture.
* Phrase adjustments the settings on your picture.
* Phrase received’t let your structure designer extract the picture.
Ship the photographs individually. Put a word in the principle textual content the place you assume the picture needs to be positioned. Permit the structure designer to recommend different placement.
There’s a saying within the laptop business concerning the high quality of knowledge: Rubbish In, Rubbish Out. That is true of photos in books. A low high quality picture won’t ever look good in print.
Saving your manuscript
* Doc or docx? Verify with whomever you might be sending it to.
Variations
* Everybody learns the arduous approach the significance of conserving observe of various variations. This doubles in complexity with every particular person you permit to make adjustments to your manuscript.
What do you name the model you ship?
* What do you name the amended model you get again?
* What do you name the following model you ship?
Clearly naming the variations of your manuscript that you simply ship and obtain will be tough, however it’s important. Here’s a case the place the left and proper sides of the mind can productively cooperate. Make your versioning system each practical and delightful.
Bear in mind: It’s your duty to run spell-checker once more each time there are adjustments. Each time. Every model.
How to have a look at your manuscript.
If it isn’t switched on, show your formatting symbols.
Additionally, you at all times wish to see the place you will have multiple house.
As I discussed within the earlier article, the usual format of a manuscript has developed to decrease pointless work. This can be a good factor for each indie authors and trad-published authors. If you happen to don’t do the issues you need to do, or worse do the belongings you shouldn’t ever do, you might be creating pointless work.
Subsequent week, What You Must Do to End Writing Your Guide!
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Ed Charlton grew up in England. After a few years toiling in company knowledge programs, he adopted his true calling: books and writing sci-fi.
In 2005, Ed created Scribbulations LLC to supply providers to indie authors. He additionally served because the Publishing Supervisor for IndieReader Publishing Providers.
In 1963, he was a part of the unique goal demographic for Physician Who, lengthy earlier than society realized the impact of sci-fi on the younger. As an grownup, he has a repute for asking, in the midst of lengthy BBC dramas, “When do the aliens land?”
Ed is the writer of eight sci-fi journey novels, the newest is Murderer Guide One, A Jim Ready Journey.