Let’s Start at the Very Beginning (A Very Good Place to Start)

by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells

As you begin writing your story, here is how to set up or format your manuscript.

• Use Microsoft Word. This program is industry standard and the program that writers, editors, agents, and publishers use. 

You can be prepared to convert your work into Microsoft Word prior to sharing, but in my experience there are formatting details that are lost in translation. You spend additional time finding and fixing them, or look unprofessional when you send a translated manuscript with errors.

Professionals do not have time to waste, and if your work is constantly an issue of translation into something the person on the receiving end can read, people will be too busy to work with you. Additionally, if you won’t work within common parameters, this is a sign that you will be out of step in other areas as well. This is a foreshadowing of frustration for all parties involved.

• Write in 12 point Times Roman (Courier if writing a screenplay)
• One inch margins all around
• Title in header on left side
• Author’s name in ten point in header on right side
• Page numbers in ten point centered in footer
• Double space text that will be edited
• One space after periods
• Punctuation goes inside quote marks 

Before you send your manuscript to a publisher, check their writer’s guidelines and give them what they outline. 

• Does the publication prefer says to said?
• Are numbers one through ten spelled out, while 11 and beyond written numerically?
• Are all numbers, no matter how large, spelled out? 
• Is one Bible translation preferred?
• How are Scripture addresses formatted? Are books of the Bible abbreviated? Spelled out? Is Scripture in italics? Scripture separated from reference verse by comma or parenthesis?
• Are states abbreviated or spelled out?
• Are measurements abbreviated or spelled out?
• Is he capitalized when referring to God or Jesus?

Resist the impulse to write your romance in flowery script, or your comedy in comic sans. If a different font helps you write the piece, then knock yourself out, but change it to Times Roman before submitting. Or risk being the example of what not to do when the editor teaches at a conference.

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Tropical island votary and history buff, PeggySue Wells parasails, skydives, snorkels, scuba dives, and has taken (but not passed) pilot training. Writing from the 100-Acre wood in Indiana, Wells is the bestselling author of twenty-eight books including The Slave Across the Street, Slavery in the Land of the Free, Bonding With Your Child Through Boundaries, Homeless for the Holidays, and Chasing Sunrise. Optimistic dream-driver, PeggySue is named for the Buddy Holly song with the great drumbeat. At school author visits, she teaches students the secrets to writing, and speaks at events and conferences. Connect with her at www.PeggySueWells.com, on Facebook at PeggySue Wells, and Twitter @PeggySueWells.