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Formatting a manuscript

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Animad345

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I'm using Times New Roman, font size 12 and heck, I'm using the tab key a lot. I'm a little confused.

Which one of the following is right?

A) She smiled. "Yes, that is correct."

B) She smiled.
"Yes, that is correct."

So, if you have a line of dialogue, does that automatically warrant an indentation? Or, when it is preceded by a line about the character who is speaking, does it follow straight on?

Thanks a lot, guys!
 

Bufty

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Not sure why you use the tab key a lot.

You shouldn't have to keep using the tab to indent if you set your margins first.

Same character acting and speaking - use same paragraph..... is as good a guide as anything.

Check some of the books on your shelf to confirm.
 
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VoireyLinger

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It's not about dialogue, it's about paragraph breaks. if the same person is doing the action and saying the words, you have a single paragraph. Do not start a new paragraph. If the person smiling isn't the person speaking, you have unrelated actions. Put them in different paragraphs.

Also, if you set your formatting to indent the first line, you can skip the tabs. They aren't used much anymore.
 

Animad345

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Ah, right. Thank you for clearing that up.
As for the tabs: I'm masochistic. Also, it means that I never skip editing paragraphs in the revision process :)
 

Interrobang

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There's no right or wrong answer to this.

Normally, you would include all the dialogue and action associated with a 'beat' in one paragraph, as in A. However, for dramatic reasons you might want the dialogue to stand out on its own line, in which case you'd go for B.
 

Bufty

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Learning how to fix your margins could save you heartache later when all the indents have disappeared when you need them.

Ah, right. Thank you for clearing that up.
As for the tabs: I'm masochistic. Also, it means that I never skip editing paragraphs in the revision process :)
 

Bufty

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I am sorry, but to the OP's question there was a right answer and she received it.

To choose to do something for effect means you also have to recognise when doing it is not effective - and the OP obviously did not know.

There's no right or wrong answer to this.

Normally, you would include all the dialogue and action associated with a 'beat' in one paragraph, as in A. However, for dramatic reasons you might want the dialogue to stand out on its own line, in which case you'd go for B.
 
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Animad345

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Buffy- firstly, I'm female! I'll be mindful of the margins for my next story.

And yes, I get your point, Interrobang. I needed confirmation on formatting in general and I knew that the good people on AW would explain it to me :)
 

Roxxsmom

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Just so you know, a lot of editors hate it when a MS is formatted via tabbing. Tabs don't typically translate well via e-mail and online submission forms either. Using the slider bar at the top of the page to set your margins will likely save you some headaches later.

As for the dialog question: It's fine to put an action that immediately precedes words by the same speaker in the same paragraph. In fact, if you don't, it may mislead the reader into thinking a different person is speaking the dialog in the next sentence/paragraph. As another poster said, though, there are times when you may want a new paragraph, either because there was a major shift in topic, or for dramatic emphasis.
 

BethS

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First, keep dialogue in the same paragraph as the speaker's actions (that includes a smile). Otherwise you're going to cause confusion as to who is speaking.

Second, start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes. And yes, you indent at the beginning of each paragraph.
 

Animad345

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Roxxsmom: Oh, I see! I didn't think of that. Thanks for letting me know!

This all makes a lot more sense now. I was looking in novels but I found that some authors started a new paragraph whenever dialogue was used, regardless of the situation. Thanks for the wonderful explanations, everyone.
 

Becky Black

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It really is very easy to use your paragraph settings to set the first line of a paragraph to indent. And you can fix it retroactively, if you use Find and Replace to get rid of the tabs and select everything and change the Paragraph settings to First Line indented. Sorted! You'll have to go and fix things you don't want indented, like chapter titles, but that doesn't take long. And you can do that with Find and Replace too, replacing the formatting.

If you're submitting on paper then it's neither here nor there. But if you submit electronically some publishers will even specifically mention that you must not use the tabs to indent.
 

Animad345

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Becky Black: that's great, thanks. It's going to take a while to get used to the margins, too, but it's a small price to pay to not anger an agent!!
 

BethS

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Becky Black: that's great, thanks. It's going to take a while to get used to the margins, too, but it's a small price to pay to not anger an agent!!

Fwiw, an agent isn't going to care whether you use tabs or margins to indent. This may only become an issue when it comes to typesetting the manuscript, and even then, it may not matter, depending on how the manuscript is converted to book form. If you like using tabs (as I do), then use them. They can always be fixed later if the publisher requests it.
 

Bufty

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Do you really tab in three or five or whatever times every time you start a new paragraph - be it narrative or dialogue?

Good luck to you, but that would drive me crackers :Hug2:


Fwiw, an agent isn't going to care whether you use tabs or margins to indent. This may only become an issue when it comes to typesetting the manuscript, and even then, it may not matter, depending on how the manuscript is converted to book form. If you like using tabs (as I do), then use them. They can always be fixed later if the publisher requests it.
 
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VoireyLinger

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Tabs are pre-set to advance several spaces. You only hit it once.

But no, a tab isn't going to make or break a query. My first sale was tabbed. It was also my last one tabbed because I had to go back and reformat the thing in editing.
 

Bufty

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I don't think I've ever used the tab key, so I continue to learn - thank you. :)

Tabs are pre-set to advance several spaces. You only hit it once.

But no, a tab isn't going to make or break a query. My first sale was tabbed. It was also my last one tabbed because I had to go back and reformat the thing in editing.
 
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benbenberi

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It amazes me that people still use tabs for paragraph indents. Way back in 1987, when I got my first Mac with my first primitive version of Word, pretty much the first thing I did was to set up a style (I call it "text") with an automatic paragraph indent to use in fiction files, and I've continued to use that "text" style in Word ever since. (It also sets the line-spacing and fonts.) Other word-processing tools have comparable features.

A huge advantage of managing formatting this way is that it becomes very easy to make global changes -- if frex I want to change the indents or line spacing in a ms where I've used my "text" style, all I have to do is change the settings in the "text" style setup and every paragraph that uses the style will automatically change. No search-and-replace necessary.

Learn to use your tools! It really can make life easier for you.
 

Animad345

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The funny thing is that I NEVER thought about setting up an automatic paragraph indent. Which is weird, because I'm usually majorly lazy... It just never occurred to me.
 

aibrean

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I'm fairly sure you can do a find and replace in Word for exchanging tabs for paragraph returns. Then you can set up the indent.
 

Animad345

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I was able to change the settings on Word, so it's all good now. Thanks :)
 

BethS

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Do you really tab in three or five or whatever times every time you start a new paragraph - be it narrative or dialogue?

Nah, only once. That automatically indents five spaces or whatever it's set to.

I used to use pre-set margins and then ran into major formatting headaches when I did a lot of cut and paste.

That was years ago. Maybe it all works more easily now, but I do like my tab key, so I probably won't change. I like to have total control over what goes on the page. I don't like Word doing stuff for me. Anytime I upgrade, I have to go in and turn off most of the "helpful" features.
 

blacbird

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If you are submitting electronic manuscripts, many many editors detest the use of tabs for indentation. For all kinds of good reasons.

I don't worry overmuch about this kind of formatting stuff until I'm ready to submit something. At that time, I go through the entire manuscript one last time to be sure the formatting is proper. Never takes more than about five minutes. And the ruler is about the easiest formatting thing to use that exists in MS-Word. I just set it up at the beginning, and double-check at the end.

It won't matter for a physical manuscript, BUT many editors, once they accept a physical manuscript, will want an electronic copy.

Blacbird's Rule No. 2 for manuscript submission: Give the recipient editor or agent exactly what she wants.

(In case you need to know what Blacbird's Rule No. 1 is:

It doesn't matter what the editor or agent wants. It will be rejected anyway.)


caw
 

Roxxsmom

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The funny thing is that I NEVER thought about setting up an automatic paragraph indent. Which is weird, because I'm usually majorly lazy... It just never occurred to me.

I never did either. Not all through grad school, when I wrote papers for classes and journals. Not even when I wrote my dissertation. And not for almost 20 years after, with several incarnations of word that I used to prepare student handouts and exams and wrote various short stories and abortive novels. It wasn't until I actually joined writing sites that I discovered that lots of editors loathe tab indents (and learned how easy the automatic paragraph indents are to use).

You get in the habit of doing something a certain way, it works, and you don't tend to change it unless someone tells you there's a reason to.

Like double spacing after periods. I didn't know this was no longer "the cool thing to do" until I heard a guy from Slate ranting about all those "fossilized old geezers who still double space after periods" on NPR's Fresh Air one day. I single space now, but my husband refuses to change. Of course, he's not submitting manuscripts anywhere. I'm not sure why it's so horrible to do it in personal communications, honestly, even if it's no longer required. Maybe a period with a double space after it killed the guy from Slate's father or something ;)
 
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