A reader writes to ask: I have perused your formatting advice and have a question. You advise underline to indicate italics, what about bold? Make it "actual" or use asterisks, etc? I need to indicate vectors in bold for a...  read

A reader follows up on an earlier question to ask: I have a contents page after the main title page, so I want to start the page numbering on the third page, which is where chapter 1 starts. Have tried...  read

A reader writes to ask: I just wanted to know if you still include a header on the first page of your chapters, and if you still use Courier 12 in your manuscripts - as shown in your venerable novel...  read

A reader writes to ask: Please could you explain how, using MS word, I can use a header like the one on your manuscript of Silvertide? Each time I try it will only let me have EITHER the name of...  read

A reader writes to ask: [My question] regards major and minor scene breaks. I understand that one sets off a blank-line break with #, but what about a more significant scene break, the sort one usually sees in print marked...  read

In response to an earlier post, a reader writes to ask: Quick question - as a new/aspiring writer, starting a manuscript, I'm curious to know if *you know* of a way to make it double spaced after each sentence. I'm...  read

A reader writes to ask: I'm preparing a manuscript for a children's book. Should I use the same format [as for adult fiction]? Or is there a different format for this type of book? Yes, when submitting a picture book,...  read

A reader writes to ask: Quick question: which font do you use when writing a manuscript – Courier New or Courier Final Draft? Good question, though those two fonts are hardly the only Courier variants available to choose from. One...  read

A reader writes to ask: I am a bit confused about scene changes. I know that they have to be denoted by a single line with a "#", but if I use them at every scene change my plot will...  read

A reader writes to ask: My manuscript contains text messages from one character to another. How would you suggest I format them? When you present an exchange of text messages in fiction, you're essentially presenting a different form of dialog....  read