More on Formatting : Page 3
Differentiating major and minor scene breaks
A reader writes to ask: [My question] regards major and minor scene breaks. I understand that one sets off a blank-line break with #, but what about a more significant scene break, the sort one usually sees in print marked...
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Can my word processor insert two spaces automatically?
In response to an earlier post, a reader writes to ask: Quick question - as a new/aspiring writer, starting a manuscript, I'm curious to know if *you know* of a way to make it double spaced after each sentence. I'm...
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Formatting a children's book
A reader writes to ask: I'm preparing a manuscript for a children's book. Should I use the same format [as for adult fiction]? Or is there a different format for this type of book? Yes, when submitting a picture book,...
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Which Courier to choose?
A reader writes to ask: Quick question: which font do you use when writing a manuscript – Courier New or Courier Final Draft? Good question, though those two fonts are hardly the only Courier variants available to choose from. One...
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When is a scene break not a scene break?
A reader writes to ask: I am a bit confused about scene changes. I know that they have to be denoted by a single line with a "#", but if I use them at every scene change my plot will...
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Why you won't go to hell for putting two spaces after a sentence
Back in January, Slate's Farhad Manjoo set the blogosphere a-boil with a vitriolic philippic against the evils of ever placing two spaces at the end of a sentence. A veritable Greek chorus rushed to add its voices to his, including...
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Formatting text messages
A reader writes to ask: My manuscript contains text messages from one character to another. How would you suggest I format them? When you present an exchange of text messages in fiction, you're essentially presenting a different form of dialog....
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Testifying with boldface
A reader writes to ask: Is the occasional Bold word in a manuscript okay? Because every time I change point-of-view, I leave an empty line (which from now on will be filled with a #), and make the first word...
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I never seen so many bleedin' Arials
A reader writes to ask: The font I have been using for 10 years is Arial. I like it alot. Any comments. Should I check with Sheila Williams, the editor at Azimovs. No. No. No. A thousand times no. Use...
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Converting all italics in your document to underlines
A reader writes to ask: I am using 2010 microsoft office for my novel manuscript. I need to change the titles of movies from italics to underlines. Any quick way? It's a bit tricky, but there is a way to...
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