8 Fiddly Things

Ari Meermans · Mar 25, 2011

This is a great blog post about 8 Fiddly Things you can do to your manuscript to make your editor love you. Most of you may already know these, but the indent vs tab issue was news to me.

http://heydeadguy.typepad.com/heyde...tml?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Jamesaritchie · Mar 25, 2011

Many of these things are the exact opposite of what all of my publishers want in a manuscript. Others simply do not matter to any editor I know.

This is certainly someone who has no clue about print manuscripts, or even electronic manuscript submitted to print markets.

Roger J Carlson · Mar 25, 2011

I've seen so much conflicting advice on "what editors want" that I take it all with a grain of salt. I'll say this much, consistency in word usage, spelling, and grammar can't hurt, but as for the rest? If Find and Replace can fix it before, it can fix it after.

Your best bet is to write a story so engrossing that the editor doesn't even notice the fiddly things.

Ari Meermans · Mar 25, 2011

James and Roger, thank you for your comments. I agree that there is a lot of advice out there on what editors want. Some of it good advice, some of it bad advice. And, yes, each editor has his or her own preferences on these issues.

I passed this information on because the blog post came highly recommended by Lynn Price and Janet Reid, both of whom I respect.

Janet Reid:

The best writing advice of the ~~week~~ month.

Read this blog post by Alison Janssen on 10 Things You Can Do To Make Your Editor Love You.

Print it out.

Memorize it.

Implement it.

Repeat as needed.

Lynn Price:

Public Service Announcement

It’s Friday, and that means you can slough off the day and be irresponsible. Or is that just me?
But while you’re busy contemplating your weekend, stop everything and read 8 Fiddly Things You Can Do To Your Manuscript To Make Your Editor’s Day by Alison Janssen. I implore you…nay, I DEMAND it. Yah, it’s that good.

Kate Thornton · Mar 25, 2011

I liked the advice, especially single spaces between sentences. I learned to type on a Typewriter (look it up on Wikipedia) and you doubled spaced at the end of a sentence. Now you don't, but old habits are hard to break. I'm grateful for search and replace.

..

Eddyz Aquila · Mar 25, 2011

I think the double space and such are part of logic and common sense. You have to make the work readable to you in the first place, so why make it a mess?

Rhoda Nightingale · Mar 29, 2011

I'm getting used to the idea of not using tabs anymore, ever, myself. It's a hard habit to break, but it helps to keep the format looking the way it should.

Thanks for sharing this!

Shady Lane · Mar 29, 2011

I started school after that whole "two spaces after sentences" thing had already shriveled up, so it's something I find completely annoying and distracting. Your word processor already puts a little extra space after a period for you. It knows how things work. Single space between sentences, please.

pangalactic · Mar 29, 2011

Shady Lane said:
Your word processor already puts a little extra space after a period for you. It knows how things work. Single space between sentences, please.

Really? Mine doesn't.

But yes, one space after a full stop. Even though I was taught two at school, it wasn't a hard habit to break.

Torgo · Mar 29, 2011

I would settle for a hell of a lot less, at least when seeing the (unbought) MS for the first time. If I've acquired the book, less work for the copyeditor is nice I suppose.

adarkfox · Mar 29, 2011

When was the last time you heard anyone refer to a Trapper Keeper? Bwahahaha

Sunnyside · Mar 30, 2011

I had a hard time adjusting to one space after a period, too. Like Kate, I learned on a manual typewriter (though they were becoming obsolete at the time) and it's tough to break the habit -- and it STILL looks a little weird to me.

As for the emdash, I use pages on Mac, and you can set it to make automatic changes for you. So I have mine set to insert a proper emdash every time I type three dashes together. (Of course, I ALSO have it set to automatically correct "teh" and "nad" to "the" and "and"....)

Rhoda Nightingale · Mar 30, 2011

@Shady: Yeah, mine doesn't add extra space either. Sometimes they're pre-set for that kind of thing, but mine isn't. (Also, every time I get a new computer, I tend to root through all it's automatic settings and turn all that crap OFF so it doesn't confuse me.) That said, the office where I work does like two spaces after periods, so I have to rewire my brain to draft stuff for them.

Namatu · Mar 30, 2011

It's all good advice to me, especially using page break instead of numerous hard returns. Repeated hard returns are an excellent way to screw up the formatting in your manuscript when you go back and do significant edits. They also have to be removed later in the process so if you're not using page breaks, you're creating a pain in the ass. Which means yes, your editor will love you if you use page breaks. Love. You.

Note, she's not saying you have to do these things, but that doing them will garner your editor's appreciation. Having the formatting stable (page break versus hard returns, auto indent versus tabs) is a huge help.

Ari Meermans · Mar 30, 2011

Namatu said:
It's all good advice to me, especially using page break instead of numerous hard returns. Repeated hard returns are an excellent way to screw up the formatting in your manuscript when you go back and do significant edits. They also have to be removed later in the process so if you're not using page breaks, you're creating a pain in the ass. Which means yes, your editor will love you if you use page breaks. Love. You.

Note, she's not saying you have to do these things, but that doing them will garner your editor's appreciation. Having the formatting stable (page break versus hard returns, auto indent versus tabs) is a huge help.

Thank you. This is exactly what I got out of the article and who wouldn't want to make life easier for their editor.

NeuroFizz · Mar 30, 2011

Fiddly thing #1: Write a damn good story.

Fiddly thing #2: Let the publishing professionals take that story and put it into a reading format. If there are ways to help those professionals through formatting practices, do them. Otherwise, pay strict attention to the submission instructions of the appropriate agent/editor/publication.

Fiddly thing #3: Write your next damn good story.

Victoria · Mar 30, 2011

Oh my. Single space after period. No returns to the next page. I'll never get this damn thing done.

kurzon · Mar 30, 2011

Single space v double space - there is no rule, even though countless people will insist there is. Do whatever you prefer, and change if asked.

http://www.ditchwalk.com/2011/01/19/two-spaces-after-a-period/ has an extensive history, if you wish to trawl through.

scarletpeaches · Mar 31, 2011

My editor would have words with me if I sent her a manuscript with em-dashes in it. House style at Loose Id is double-dashes.

Susan Coffin · Mar 31, 2011

Shady Lane said:
Your word processor already puts a little extra space after a period for you. It knows how things work. Single space between sentences, please

Not unless you have a magic word processor.

Besides, there's no hard fast rule that you have to single space between sentences. It really depends on the agent and/or editor preference.

PulpDogg · Mar 31, 2011

Double space between sentences? That is actually the first time I heard about that. I learned on a manual typewriter as well, but can't for the life of me remember anything about double spacing after a sentence.

juniper · Mar 31, 2011

I'm surprised about the em-dash request. I've read so many other places to turn off the autocorrect in Word to disable turning double-hyphen into an em-dash, and also to keep the straight quotes instead of curlies, etc.

I thought the "--" was correct ...

Jess Haines · Mar 31, 2011

Err. Am I off-base by suggesting that you simply ask your editor what they want from you? 0.o

scarletpeaches · Mar 31, 2011

If you don't have an editor yet, the best course is to remain consistent. If there are guidelines, follow them. For example, with LI, their website says something like "Times New Roman, double-spaced, 12pt." Nothing about double-dashes, italics/underlines, anything like that, as far as I recall.

But once I had a regular editor there, she told me about the house style and anything I subsequently subbed to her was changed to her exact specifications. Now I know to use double-dashes for instance, and not to use page breaks. When I was 'cold calling' as it were, still on the slush pile, they didn't expect me to do anything other than follow the few brief guidelines on their website.

jaksen · Mar 31, 2011

Most of this is common sense, imo.

Most of us aren't writing on typewriters anymore, on which double-spaces after sentences, using tabs and hitting the space bar over and over to get to a new page made sense. Even when we advance to new technology, some of the habits which came with the older technology are hard to shake.

And even if you weren't around for that older technology, some of the teachers or professors you encounter were. Often they perpetuate the older ideas because they think that's the way things should be done. I have had too many arguments with young English teachers who insist (to me, the writer) that's the way they were taught so it has to be correct! To even consider their beloved high school English teacher might be a little outdated...never!

8 Fiddly Things

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