Formatting. The very word makes me quake. My friends,
publisher, and editors all run for the hills when I ask questions about making
my manuscript look pretty.
Some of my difficulties included:
1. Getting solid or
broken lines across my pages.
2. The case of the disappearing
header.
3. Wonky spacing.
What's a techy-challenged writer to do?
1. Hit the search
engines - whatever you use will work. They've steered me to solid answers on
how to use my Microsoft 2003 program. (Yes, 2003 - not a typo!)
2. Ask questions.
Someone eventually takes pity on me and unscrambles my brain.
3. Improvise. With my
current WIP, Out of the Mist, I got around the formatting problem by saving a
correct document with the next chapter number, deleting the content, and then
proceeding to write the new chapter. (Each chapter of my book is initially in
separate documents.)
I'm hoping when this manuscript is ready to be sent to my
publisher that it will be pristine. Maybe he and the editors will eventually
forget my past formatting woes.
Writers: What areas
of formatting trip you up?
Readers: This is more of a plea than a question. When you
see a formatting mistake, please extend some grace. This process isn't an easy
one, especially for the techy challenged among us.
Photo Credit: miljan
6 comments:
Oh, you have my condolences! The only formatting that frustrates me is the 'autoformat' options that MSWord (for the Mac) wants to apply by default. I disable them as quickly as I can!
I'm surprised to hear you keep chapters in separate files. Merging them is a pain I'm amazed your editors tolerate. I just had to merge three documents, much like novel chapters (part of the church history I've been compiling) and that was such a nuisance.
I'm glad you have helpful techy friends to approach!
I have trouble sometimes with formatting. I've even gone so far as to copy and paste content and start a new document. I need to take time to learn more about Word and it's problem solving issues. Thanks for the tips, Susan! :)
I agree with Carol that the 'autoformat' option in Word for Mac is a pain. Other than that, I have no big issues with formatting. I also agree with Carol that saving chapters in separate files and then trying to merge them is probably not a good idea. It can create even more formatting issues. Maybe your editor can provide you with a Word template to use?
It took me some time to learn formatting. I used to just write willy-nilly when I started. My daughter would then set it for me...that was over 14 years ago. Fortunately, I have a neighbor who showed me how to work Word. It's all try, try, and try until you get it right.
I FULLY understand your circumstance. I have features on my word processing program I still don't know how to use after two years on this system.
You'll get no negatory commnent from me!
Hi Susan - it's always such a learning process and I'm not even there yet ..
Good luck with it all .. cheers Hilary
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