Twelve Days of Writing…Day One

Writing: The Basics

And, by basics, well, I really mean basics. Let’s talk today about formatting. When I write a manuscript, the very first thing that I do is adjust the set-up of my page. I use Microsoft Word for my writing, and I just open up a new document, then immediately adjust my page so that I have one inch margins on all sides. I set the document up for double-spacing, and I use Courier New 12 for my font.

Why do I follow these formatting guidelines? Well, when I do it this way, I’m creating the old “industry standard.”  With this particular set-up, I can take my number of pages written and multiply that times 250 (the anticipated number of words based on this set-up) and get a total word count. Some publishers ask for this type of word count for their materials–and other publishers will allow a writer to turn in a manuscript based on a computer generated word count. But no matter what word count my publisher wants me to follow, I still use the same page set-up. Why? Simple…readability. With the guidelines I listed, I feel my pages are easy on the eyes and since editors read–A LOT–they need a manuscript that won’t make them squint and swear.

On each page, I write the title of my work in the upper left-hand corner (in the header area) and I include my name, a dash, and the page number (Cynthia Eden–43) in the upper right-hand corner (still in the header).    Other authors do this differently…some include the name of the manuscript and their author names in the upper left-hand corner and then just have only the page number in the right-hand area. Honestly, I think as long as you have this information (title,  name, and page number) you should be good to go.

I know, you’re thinking…formatting–sexy. Or, rather, not. But, honestly, I’ve gotten a ton of formatting questions from folks who are just beginning their writing efforts. So, I figured why not start my talk with formatting?

And here are a few formatting links:

eHarlequin–Formatting Sample 

Carolyn’s Writing Workshop:  Appearances Matter

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Romance. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.