How do I format a novel using Microsoft Office Word 2007?

Page 1 of 1 [ 4 posts ] 

Giftorcurse
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,887
Location: Port Royal, South Carolina

03 Jan 2010, 6:05 pm

Any help on this matter will be appreciated greatly.


_________________
Yes, I'm still alive.


mjs82
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,166

03 Jan 2010, 6:31 pm

I'm not sure if I've ever actually seen a Word Template for a novel. The reason being that novels are written in prose style so there's not much need. If anything, I'd suggest just reading a novel that you like and wish to emulate and figuring out why the prose and dialogue is structured the way it is. You should just write what feels natural and let the story flow from that, making sure that each chapter progress with it's own setup -> body of tension -> consequence that feeds into the next (like a scene in a movie).

Expectation -> Maximise Tension -> The question is addressed and is either correct or incorrect -> This results in dramatic response that you Maximise -> and a new expectation that arises out of it.

You can end a chapter on the unanswered question and answer it in the next chapter but then that chapter has to have the dramatic response, a new expectation, tension and a build up to at least to the unanswered question again. This works for action stories but can get annoying for slower burns.

And if anything, at the end of your page, give the reader something - a question, a cliffhanger, an idea - that makes them want to turn the page. Also your first ten pages need to be good enough to keep a publishing house reader still interested.

Ultimately, after you've done, if you pay a story editor, they'll fix up all the formatting for you any how. But what they don't fix is story.



pakled
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Posts: 7,015

03 Jan 2010, 7:14 pm

Ask the place you want to publish from. They're pretty straighforward about what they want. As long as it's legible, you should be fine.

For giggles, open a paperback or hardback and count lines and characters on a typical page, and try to match the font size, set the paper size to 'custom', then measure the page, etc.You can usually get an idea of how it looks as a book, though no one really would want the submissions to look like that.


_________________
anahl nathrak, uth vas bethude, doth yel dyenvey...


Tollorin
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Jun 2009
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,178
Location: Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

04 Jan 2010, 7:27 pm

There is some informations about it here: http://www.ursulakleguin.com/ManuscriptPrep.html


_________________
Down with speculators!! !