Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission
Good morning, Romance University! I’m pleased to introduce you to award-winning author Ann Macela. Ann’s known for her widely popular “Magic” series. For a glimpse into Ann’s world, check out her article on A Theory of Magic.
Ann joins us today to share her tips on preparing a manuscript for submission. She’s also a guru on Microsoft Word. Have a question about “Styles”? Ann’s your woman. A detailed article on manuscript writing using Word can be found on her website. Be sure to check it out after today’s discussion.
Ann’s generously giving away a copy of Windswept or her newest release Wild Magic to one lucky commenter!
The floor is yours, Ann!
Okay, what I’m going to be talking about here is the very basics of manuscript preparation. Not voice or plot or characterization or any of the other craft subjects. It involves learning to use your biggest tool: your word-processing program, whatever it is: Word, WordPerfect, something else. It involves producing a clean manuscript. Clean in terms of everything from document formatting to spelling to proper grammar to weird spacing.
The goal is to produce a manuscript so normal, so bland in appearance, that the reader has no choice but to concentrate on your wonderful plot, characters, and voice.
Yes, this preparation is boring, tedious, and frustrating.
So, why put yourself through it? Editors and agents, according to those I have heard speak or have talked with, are not in the business of teaching you how to spell, how to use orthodox grammar and punctuation, how to present your work. If you do not know how to do those things and your manuscript shows it, they may look at your work as not being worth the trouble or time to edit. You look less than professional.
Let me give you an example. I judge a number of unpubbed contests. I have seen egregious mistakes that not only pulled me out of the story, but made it almost impossible to read the entry and concentrate on the judging criteria. There was once an entry where the author’s voice was outstanding. She nailed the characters, the plot was intriguing, and I definitely wanted to read more. Except . . . her spelling was atrocious. Through = threw = thru = though. She put commas in strange places that caused me to have to read the sentences again to understand. Basic orthodox grammar and punctuation were ignored. Every page had numerous mistakes. What agent or editor wants to spend the time, effort, and money on correcting all that? Especially when there are ten other wonderful manuscripts without the problems?
So, how do you produce one of these manuscripts that fades into the background and lets your story shine through?
Formatting:
There are numerous articles and discussions on how to format a manuscript. I have one on my own website in a “How to Use Word” manual. Pick one format and stick with it. The basics are, inch-wide margins all around, your title and name and page number at the top of the page, double line spacing, paragraphs indented half an inch. Start each chapter on a new page—using a “hard page break,” not simply by hitting Enter to get to a new page. White paper, black ink.
There have been lots of statements about fonts. Use something legible and easy to read. The standards are Courier and Times New Roman, 12 points. I strongly suggest a serif font like those two rather than a sans serif font like Arial. At one point in my life, I managed a graphics department, and I learned in the doing that sans serif fonts are more difficult to read when the line length is long.
If the publisher has any manuscript requirements on their website, follow those to the letter. Especially for electronic submissions.
Style:
Ask, cajole, bribe a critique partner, beta reader, or long-suffering friend who is good at grammar, punctuation, and spelling to read your submission and mark the suggested corrections. Do NOT trust spell-check. I personally don’t trust the grammar check either. You don’t have to take all of their suggestions, but you need to know where potential problems are.
If you can get a copy of your target publisher’s style sheet, so much the better for learning how they handle commas and other peculiarities. Or read the books they publish and pay attention. Otherwise, choose a standard style and be consistent. My publisher uses the Chicago Manual of Style, for example.
“Favorite” Or Overused Words:
We all have favorite words or terms that slip into our writing, sometimes without our conscious knowledge. I’m not talking about a quirk a character may have in his speaking pattern that adds to his personality. Examples include just, but, now, then, looked, any, thing, and many others. The repetition can wear on a reader. The prose seems dull, the words not lively, the clichés make the reader roll her eyes.
To correct these is extremely tedious, but I have found it makes my prose and my voice much clearer. Use the Find function to go through your manuscript, one of these words at a time. Keep an eye on where you are in the manuscript—page, line number—so you can see where you have proximity too close for comfort. For example, if you use “just” on page 10, line 2 and don’t see it again until page 20, line 5, that’s fine. If you see it on page 10, line 8, then you might want to use another word to get the meaning across.
An added benefit of this method: You have practically memorized your manuscript, whether you know it or not. Skipping from place to place makes you read bits and pieces much more closely, and you will see what works and what doesn’t with an entirely new perspective. Also, after you do this enough times, you become really sensitive to your overused words and begin to correct them as you write them. Of course, then you develop new favorites.
One Last Pass:
This is the last pass through the manuscript before you send it off. Find out how to do Print Preview. This is not Print Layout. In Word 2007, click on the big button in the top left corner, then on Print, and then Print Preview. You’ll want to display two pages. Scroll through the pages, two at a time. Look for any problems—extra blank lines, strange indenting, headers consistent—and correct them.
If all is well, save it, print it, and send it off, secure in the knowledge that you won’t be rejected for not knowing how to present your manuscript.
One more note: When this is published, I will be in Atlanta at the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference of the Georgia Romance Writers. I’ll drop by here from time to time. If you’re in the vicinity, I’ll be signing in their big booksigning. Your Magic Or Mine? is also up for a Maggie award.
Thank you, Ann!
RU Readers, if you have any questions regarding manuscript formatting or Microsoft Word, please use the Comments section below and Ann will get back to you. Don’t forget–one of you will win a copy of Windswept or Wild Magic.
BIO:
I have been blessed with a number of careers: public school and university teacher (three degrees in history); writer of history (the kind bristling with footnotes); sales, marketing and PR person writing everything from ads to annual reports; consultant and computer manual writer; and now romance author. A native Texan, I spent most of my life on the Gulf Coast until my husband’s and my business took us first to Minneapolis and then to the Chicago area. It didn’t take me long to learn how to survive in The Frozen North–just wear my entire wardrobe at one time. All of this, some travels here and abroad, and my computer-and-accounting savvy husband have given me inspiration and details for my stories.
In Chicagoland, I finally had the time to do what I have always wanted to: write fiction. I write both contemporary and contemporary paranormal romance stories. I hope my readers enjoy my magic practitioners. We all need a little magic in our lives.
I’ve been writing romance since 1999, and my first book, The Oldest Kind Of Magic, came out in 2005. Since then, I’ve published four more, including the one that comes out in October, Wild Magic. I’m pleased to say that my books have been well received by reviewers and contest judges, have finaled in contests and won several.
Query Writing 101 with C.J. Redwine launches Monday!! Stop by and read C.J.’s comments on our first query. You’re sure to pick-up tips for your own!
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
Hi Ann,
Thank you for joining us at RU! Some folks place two spaces after a period and some only one. What’s your opinion?
Thanks, Tracey
Very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Ann -
Thanks so much for being with us today! What’s your favorite “time saving” tip for MS Word?
Many thanks,
Kelsey
Hi Ann. Thank you for being with us today. Great post!
Well, I made it. Coming to you from Atlanta, the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference!
First, the two spaces after the period.
Whichever you choose, be consistent.
Do what your publisher requires, if they do require something. My publisher requires two. They take our electronic manuscript and send it through their typesetting program, and certain things must be consistent for a clean copy to come out the other end. They also require Times New Roman for the typeface.
I’m of the generation that learned to type on a real typewriter, where the typeface, now known as Courier, almost required two spaces for better legibility. When I see a manscript with only one space, it looks funny to me.
If the publisher doesn’t state a preference, do what is comfortable to you. My habit is to hit the spacebar twice after a period.
Whatever you do, be consistent.
Cheers,
Ann
Hi Ann..
Thanks for the great post! My Word question – when I started my first manuscript, I would separate scenes with 3 asterisks *** and then when I hit the enter key, I’d have a whole line of asterisks – that are impossible to get rid of! My whole ms is littered with these huge lines. Why did that happen, how can I stop it, and more importantly how can I get rid of it!
Thanks!
carrie
Time-saving Word tip.
Set up a template for your writing, with all the decisions made as to indents, line spacing, and whatnot.
Now, when I’m actually writing, putting new words on the screen, I write with single spacing for paragraphs and double spacing between them. The reason is that I can see more on the screen that way. I don’t have to scroll so often to check the paragraphs above. What did I just write two paragraphs up? That’s one template.
I have another template for submission of the manuscript, where the paragraphs are double spaced and there is no extra space between them.
I either copy my “writing MS” to my “submission MS” and take out the extra spacing with a Find and Replace.
Or, I change the styles to reflect the submission formats.
I prefer the first because I know then that I have made all the submission changes.
In Word 2007, you can format Word so that when you bring over the original, the formatting will change to fit the submission formatting.
I always had problems with Word 2003 and previous.
I don’t want to turn this into How To Word lessons, because I need to do that with pictures. My How To manual does not address Word 2007. I am, however, always to help someone with Word problems on an individual basis.
The other time saving tip: Learn how to use Word Styles. It will save you lots of time.
Cheers,
Ann
Everybody:
If you’re asking a specific Word question, tell me which Word version you’re talking about.
Word2007
Word2003-97
I can’t answer WordPerfect questions.
Ann
Carrie,
Which Word are you in?
What Word has done is an automatic border.
The only way I know to get rid of them is to go each one.
Put the cursor on the line.
Find the Border button. Open the Border/Shading box. Click on the No Line or whatever it is.
If you are in Word 2007, click on the big button in the top left hand corner.
Then on Word Options in the bottom right of the box that displays.
Then on Proofing,
Autocorrect Options,
Autoformat as you type
Under Apply as you type, UNCHECK Border Lines.
That should stop the auto bordering.
Another thing for you to understand is that your formatting “resides” in the paragraph mark at the end of the paragraph above where you’re typing. If you have bolded that upper paragraph, or made some other formatting change, when you hit enter, you will carry those changes to the next paragraph.
I always keep a couple of extra blank lines at the end, below where I’m typing and those are in my original formatting.
Does this make any sense?
BTW, I never did figure out how to stop some of the autocorrect as you type problems in Word 2003. That’s where I use Styles.
Cheers,
Ann
I’m in Word 2002, an oldie but a goodie. =) And you are absolutely right, it was borders! I’ll be darned…I’ve argued with that thing since May. Thanks tons!!
=)
carrie
I’d be interested in your advice on formatting dialog. Is it acceptable to insert a spoken line in a paragraph of either action or thought exposition, or should a spoken line always be separate?
Okay, it’s 11 a.m. here in Atlanta, and I’m going to take a break from the blog. Keep those questions/comments coming, and I’ll be back after lunch.
Cheers,
Ann
Hi, Ann,
Two questions: First, is there a problem for editors when we use the tab key to,say, make a correction in a line of dialogue?
Second, When uploading writing samples to a chat room or web site, what is the best strategy for maintaining correct format? ( I just purchased word 2007 and am struggling)
Thanks for taking our questions!
Barbara
Hi, Barbara,
I don’t understand the first question. How do you use the tab key to make a correction? What kind of correction? Which editors and at what stage in the process?
I firmly believe that everyone must get used to either indenting paragraphs a half inch by the automatic indent OR by setting the tabs at half an inch and hitting the tab key to indent the paragraph.
Do NOT just space over.
Also, when starting a new chapter, put in a page break, not just hit enter until a new page shows up. Page break = CTRL+Enter. Hold down CTRL and hit Enter.
Uploading is tricky, and I don’t know that I have figured that out. My best suggestion is to put an extra blank line in between paragraphs. Sometimes the indenting gets lost, and the extra line shows that you’ve begun a new paragraph. Like a business letter that doesn’t indent the paragraphs, but puts a line between them.
Word2007 can be confusing. One of the worst problems is that they moved things around, so when you look where they used to be, they’re not there anymore. I have several big manuals and I’m forced back to them from time to time. And I can almost decipher Word Help!
Once upon a time I wrote computer manuals for a living. The people who write manuals and Help usually know too much, IMO, and don’t/can’t bring thing down to basic steps for the rest of us.
Cheers,
Ann
Great tip on single spacing drafts.
For you Red Sage fans, there is a Red Sage Spa although I’m sure the publisher and spa are unaffiliated. The spa is in the Medicine Bow region of Wyoming where the novel and TV series THE VIRGINIAN were set. The sign in the background of my pic is for the spa.
Looks like the new pic didn’t come up.
Ann,
Thank you so much for answering everyone’s questions while at conference.
Good luck at the Maggie’s!
Tracey
Comment by Diane
2009-10-02 10:08:08
I’d be interested in your advice on formatting dialog. Is it acceptable to insert a spoken line in a paragraph of either action or thought exposition, or should a spoken line always be separate?
Hi, Diane, I missed this beforre.
I think it’s okay to put the spoken line in a paragraph, as long as what he’s saying relates to the action.
He ran toward the house (LONGER sentence). “Dammit, John, how could you do this?”
Some if this depends on what you want the reader to be thinking or feeling as she reads it. If you break the dialogue into another line, it may disrupt the flow or the mood or your purpose.
Cheers,
Ann
Thanks all, I’m signing off now. The conference is going well and is a lot of run. I highly recommend Moonlight & Magnolias to those looking for a conference with lots of good workshops that is also less hectic than National.
Thanks all for your questions.
Cheers,
Ann
> Clean in terms of everything from document formatting to spelling to proper
> grammar to weird spacing.
Well, that is true, a good program that look at is Spell Check Anywhere (SpellCheckAnywhere.Com). It adds spell checking to all programs.
Thanks for a great article.
I use the AutoCrit Editing Wizard to help me find overused words. It looks through my manuscript and finds all the words you mentioned, plus it tells me if I’ve repeated a word or phrase too close together.
It really saves me time.
I know Anna is probably gone by now, but, wow, I loved her recommendation on the final pass and using the print preview. Before I submitted my revised manuscript to my agent, I ended up having a couple of blank pages here and there that I discovered only when I printed the darn thing out. Doing a print preview would’ve caught these errors ahead of time. I fixed those blank pages, but since I didn’t print it out again, I wondered if I got all of them, or caused others to occur. I know it’s because I didn’t always do hard breaks after each chapter, but I do now.