Formatting a letter in a manuscript

abctriplets · Jan 26, 2009

Ok, so my novel starts out with a letter from 1915. When I first wrote it, I increased the margins, justified the font, and set it in italics. I modeled it after period letters, including artifacts such as ampersands and abbreviated phrasings.

So now I am formatting the manuscript to eventually submit it one day. I've put it in the courier font, changed the margins back, and unjustified the font. I then made the text normal instead of italicized.

But the whole feel of it being a letter is missing now. The ampersands seem out of place. Maybe it's just me, but I am wondering if I did the right thing with formatting it in the "correct" manner.

Certainly I don't want to underline the whole chapter...

Is this just how it goes and editors get used to reading stories in "manuscript" format instead of "book" format?

dpaterso · Jan 27, 2009

I don't know if there's a standard for this, but I'd at least indent and single-space the text if I really wanted to give the appearance of a letter as written.

-Derek

qwerty · Jan 27, 2009

This is a difficult one if it's the first thing in the ms.

When I present letters or emails, I do indent from the right and left margins set for the body of the text, but as the letter is the beginning of the ms, it would just look like you've selected wide margins.

Given that it's drummed into us that agents and publishers insist on double line spacing, single spacing worries me a bit because it would be the first thing a reader would see.

For that reason, I'd take out & and use "and" just in case it gives an immediate impression of laziness.

I think you may need to rely on the text beginning "Dear so-and-so" to get across the fact that it is a letter. A right-aligned date and/or address would serve to do that as well

abctriplets · Jan 27, 2009

Ah, thanks for seeing the pickle that I'm in. (Especially if I am sending *just* the first chapter, which is only the letter).

I *do* have a right-aligned date and address, the name of the person it's addressed to, and I even have the chapter addressed "A Letter from the Past" - so I believe it is quite clear that it is a letter, even though it doesn't have the *feel* of a letter...

qwerty · Jan 27, 2009

Okay, I think you've covered it.

Given that a lot of people seem to hate prologues, I'm a bit reluctant to suggest the letter is one. But . . .

Ducks head below parapet.

abctriplets · Jan 27, 2009

Shhh....

We don't use the "p" word around here

James81 · Jan 27, 2009

Format it the same way you do a regular letter, except indent it in one indent fromt he MS. If that makes sense.

That's the way I'd handle it.

Formatting a letter in a manuscript

abctriplets

dpaterso

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qwerty

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abctriplets

qwerty

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abctriplets

James81

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