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.
Format Your Manuscript
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
Some writers outline their project, others just begin to put words on the manuscript. Whether you are a planner or plunger often depends on your personality. The project can dictate if it needs to be outlined or can progress as more of a free flow.
The important thing is to begin. Put words on the manuscript. First drafts are messy, and poorly written in terms of grammar, punctuation, and organization.
From Messy to Polished
Once the idea has been transferred from your mind onto the manuscript, you will make several passes through to edit and polish. It is not unusual to go through a project nine times to edit and polish the work.
When you feel you have good work on the manuscript, get feedback from industry professionals, readers, and maybe a writing coach. We need voices other than our own to see what we are too close to see, to find those places where what we wrote was not what we meant.
Ask a few trusted, skilled readers to share their feedback. Make improvements to be as clear in your message as you can for your reader. There are countless words in our vocabulary and lots of ways to weave words together. Choose the words and phrasing that best communicates and resonates with your reader.
You can do this. You have something valuable to share with the world.
