Formatting Your Documents

One of the goals so many of us have here (the reason we’re members of writing.com to begin with) is to be published. If you’ve started to delve into what it takes, you’ve probably seen by now that it’s as much work (if not more) than the writing itself.

Submission guidelines vary by publisher. Some want you to query first, others just want to see your story. Some only accept paper submissions, others prefer they be e-mailed. However, there is one thing that’s consistent for most publications: formatting.

Many of the publishers reference the following link to show you how to format an item: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html If there is no preferred format listed for the publication you’re considering, use the link above. If they’ve given different guidelines, follow those instead.

Because the link above both shows and tells in great detail what this format looks like, I won’t repeat it here. Instead, this reference tells how to achieve the above look using Microsoft Word. While some of the labels on various steps will vary depending on your version, most versions should bear a remarkable similarity to the steps below. This will go through the process step-by-step. Following these guidelines will help ensure not only that your document meets the publisher’s formatting guidelines, but that it’s easy to change if someone has different requirements.

Start by changing the view of your document to mimic print format. This will let you see on screen what your story will look like on paper. To do this:

- Click on ‘View’ -> ‘Print Layout’

Next, set your entire document to be double-spaced. Anything that needs to be single-spaced can be updated later, but starting with the entire document in this format will make it easier to work with in the beginning:

- Click on ‘Edit’ -> ‘Select All’. This will highlight your entire document
- Click on ‘Format’ -> ‘Paragraph’
- A new window will open. The third section down is called ‘Spacing’. In the Spacing section, find the drop-down titled ‘Line spacing’. Change the option to ‘Double’.
- Click ‘OK’ to close the Paragraph window. Your entire document should now automatically reformat to apply your changes.
- Choose ‘Format’ -> ‘Font’
- Select ‘Courier’ or ‘Courier New’ as your Font. Select ‘Regular’ as the style, and select ‘12’ as the size.
- Click ‘Ok’
- Click anywhere in the document to deselect your text.

Now it’s time to format your page margins and prepare a place for your page headers.

- Click ‘File’ -> ‘Page Setup’
- A new window will open. Start with the ‘Margins’ tab. Make sure that your Left, Right, Top, and Bottom margins are all at least one inch. The default for Word is one inch for top and bottom, and one and a quarter for left and right. If that is how yours is set, it is fine to leave it that way.
- Next, click on the ‘Layout’ tab. About a quarter of the way down, there will be a section called ‘Headers and footers’. In that section, check the box for ‘Different first page’.
- In the same section, under ‘From edge’ change the Header size to 1. Don’t worry abou the footer, because the suggested format doesn’t require a footer. If you are working with a format that requires a footer, make sure to change your footer to 1 as well.
- Cick ‘OK’ to apply your changes. Unless you changed your margins, you will not see any changes on screen yet.

Let’s format the first page next:

- Place your cursor at the beginning of your document and hit ‘Enter’ or ‘Return’ about seven times. This will take you to approximately the center of your first page.
- Type the story name. Hit Enter
- Type ‘by’ followed by your pen name. This is the name you want the work published under. If you don’t use a pen name, your real name goes here. This is your byline.
- Hit Enter two more times.
- Highlight just your story title and your byline.
- Click on ‘Format’ -> ‘Paragraph’.
- Choose ‘Center’ under the alignment section. (You can also click the ‘Center’ button at the top of word. It’s to the right of the text formatting options)
- Go to the top of your document, where there’s a lot of white space right now.
- Type your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.
Note: If all correspondence will be by snail mail, your e-mail address is not needed. Conversely, if all correspondence will be by e-mail, your mailing address is not needed. If the publisher wants either later, they will let you know. Always include your phone number.
- On the first line, where your name appears, type in the approximate word count. With your cursor in front of the word count, hit ‘Tab’ until it’s at the right side of the page. This is the easiest way to right justify something that appears on the same line as left justified text.

Lastly is adding a header and page numbers to the rest of your pages. This is key because if your pages get separated from each other, misplaced, etc, this will help the reader put them all back together.

- Click on ‘View’ -> ‘Header and footer’. A toolbar will open, and you’ll be able to type in your header and footer areas.
- Scroll to the second page, and click in the header area. Choose to right justify this information.
- Type your last name (your pen name), then a ‘ / ‘ a one or two word summary of your title, another ‘ / ‘. In the toolbar that’s open, you’ll see a button with a single ‘#’ on it. Click this to insert an auto page number.
- Click ‘Close’ on the toolbar.

Now that your document is formatted, print it to make sure it looks okay. And, of course keep a copy for posterity. You are, after all, about to enter the wide-world of publishing.