How to Format a Short Story in Word 2007

Before you submit a short story for publication, you need to format it to certain specifications a typical editor will require. Working in Word 2007, you can go step-by-step to render any short-story document in standard manuscript format.

Instructions

Before You Begin

1. Create a backup of your short-story file. Never use your original file as a testing ground when learning new computer commands.

2. Open Word 2007 and open the short-story file you want to format.

3. Know that, unless the submission guidelines indicate otherwise, the format editors expect to see incorporates the following: one-sided, 8-1/2-by-11-inch paper; 1-inch margins; the first line of every paragraph indented 1/2 inch; approximately 25 lines per page (or double-spaced); Times New Roman 12 or Courier 12 font; and a header on every page (except the first) with your last name, story title and page number.

Add Contact Information

1. Know that, for a short-story manuscript, your contact information must appear at the top of the first page. No page number appears on the first page because of this.

2. Start at the very top of the first page, at the left margin, and type your name (your real name, even if you want to use a pen name for your story byline).

3. 

   Set a tab on the right margin so you can add the publishing rights on the same line as your name. Go to "Home">"Paragraph" and expand the paragraph panel to a dialog box. (See Figure 1 for the location of the expand icon.)

4. 

   Click the "Tabs" button at the lower left of the Paragraph dialog box (see Figure 2).

5. 

   Enter 6.5 inches for "Stop Position" and check the "Right" style of tab. Click "OK." Click "OK" again to exit the Paragraph dialog box. (See Figure 3).

6. Press the "Tab" key to move to the right margin and enter what "rights" you are offering to the publisher. For a printed short story, these are usually first North American rights. Hit Enter/Return, and your tab setting should carry down to the next line.

7. On the next line, type your street address, press Tab and add the approximate word count of your manuscript (rounded to a whole number), in the format of "Approx. X,XXX words" or "About X,XXX words." Hit Enter/Return.

8. 

   Type your city, state and zip code. Tab again to the right margin. This is optional, but if it makes you feel more comfortable before sending your work out for the first time, you can add a copyright symbol (©), the year, and your name here. Hit Enter/Return. (See Figure 4 for an example of a short-story contact section).

9. On the next two lines of the left margin, enter your phone number, then your email address. You can also add your website if you like.

Add the Story Title and Byline

1. Press Enter/Return until you are about 1/3 of the way down the page. Click the "Center" alignment button in the Paragraph panel of the Home tab at the top of the screen.

2. Type the the title for your story in ALL CAPS, hit Enter/Return twice, type the word "by," hit Enter/Return twice again, and type your name (or pen name if you are using one).

3. Hit a couple more Enter/Return lines; this is where the text of your story should begin.

4. Save your document.

Set the First Line Indent

1. Click and drag to select all of the text in your story except the title, byline and contact information at the top of the screen. Be careful that, when you have all of your text selected, you don't accidentally hit a key and delete everything.

2. From the "Page Layout" tab at the top of the screen, click the "Margin" icon and check that your margins are set to 1 inch all around, which is the default setting for Word 2007.

3. From the "Home" tab, select "Paragraph" and click the icon at the lower right of the panel (box with arrow) to expand the panel into a dialog box again. (See Figure 2.)

4. 

   To set the first-line indent for each paragraph, go to the "Special" section and choose "First Line" from the drop-down menu. The measurement .5" should appear automatically in the box next to the menu. (See Figure 5.)

Set the Line Spacing

1. Choose "Exactly" from the drop-down menu and enter "25 pt" in the value box. If you are entering your story in a contest, this is often a requirement (25 lines per page), but for submission to a magazine, selecting regular double spacing is fine, too.

2. Check the box next to "Don't add space between paragraphs," and verify that the Before and After spacing are both set to 0.

3. Click the tab at the top of the Paragraph dialog box for "Lines and Page Breaks" and check the settings in this window.

4. 

   Make sure that only "Don't Hyphenate" has a check mark next to it. Make sure "Widows/Orphans" is not checked, or you may end up with large areas of white space at the bottom of your pages. Click "OK" when done. (See Figure 6.)

5. When you return to your document, click anywhere in the text to remove the highlighting if it is still selected.

Add a Header and Page Number

1. Click the "Insert" tab at the top of the screen, then click the "Header" icon and choose the "blank" style.

2. Type your last name and the title of your story in this format: Name/MY STORY TITLE. This is known as your "slug line." If your title is long, put an abbreviated version in the header. Try not to go past the halfway point on the page.

3. Press the Tab key twice to space over to the right-hand margin and get ready to place your page number. Do not type in a page number by hand, or it won't update on every page.

4. Click the "Page Number" icon in the "Insert tab" panel, then choose "Current Position->Plain Number."

5. Do not choose "Top of Page" instead of "Current Position," or you will lose your slug-line text.

6. 

   Remove the header on the first page while keeping it on the subsequent pages. To do this, locate the "Options" panel in the "Header" toolbar that is now showing and check the box for "Different First Page." (See Figure 7; this check box is circled in red.)

7. Watch for the header to disappear from the first page. But if you click the "Next Section" button on the "Navigation" panel of the "Header" toolbar, you will see that the header remains on the other pages.

8. Click the "Close" button (the big red X) to exit the "Insert Header" panel. Then save your document.

Tips & Warnings

• After changing the formatting, proofread your manuscript and look for any scene-break markers (*** or #, for example) that may have been indented when you adjusted the paragraph settings. Remove the first-line indent from them either by moving the indent back to 0 on the ruler or selecting "none" under "Special" in the "Paragraph" dialog box. Always read submission guidelines and follow all directions before submitting to an editor. When submitting via email in the message body (as opposed to including a file attachment), it is usually not necessary to double-space or indent the text of the story; instead, place double line breaks between paragraphs.

• Always back up your work onto a separate disk or folder after you make changes. Do not send your only copy of a short story to a publisher.

Resources

• Manuscript Format: Short Story
• Microsoft Word Home Page