Questions about text appearance: styling, placement, fonts, indents, bullets.
8
votes
5answers
548 views
How should dialog be formatted?
Is there any "official" rule that I should keep in mind when formatting character dialog?
Line breaks, placement of quotes, mixing dialog with action descriptions etc.
For example, I want to build a ...
9
votes
5answers
579 views
When should a chapter end?
When writing a novel, when should I end a chapter?
Note that I'm not talking about chapter word-count (that topic was discussed here). I'm interested to know when should I end my chapters ...
8
votes
4answers
945 views
What's the best way to show a foreign language in a manuscript?
What's the best way to show a character speaking a foreign language in fiction manuscript? Should the foreign words be italicized and include a translation? Should it just be included in the sentence ...
6
votes
4answers
4k views
Should I indent the first line of the first paragraph in a chapter?
I was reading a thesis report of a friend and I noticed that he didn't indent the first line of the first paragraph in each chapter. I don't remember noticing it anywhere before until I saw it there ...
8
votes
5answers
252 views
How does one present spoken dialogue as a secondary language to signed speech?
I was starting to leave a comment on this excellent question when I realized I had come up with a second question which was equally intriguing.
If you're writing a story where 95% of the ...
8
votes
4answers
4k views
How do you calculate the length of your manuscript?
Say I have a 100 page manuscript in Courier, 11pt, double-spaced. How many paperback pages is this roughly equivalent to? Is there a better font/spacing to use?
8
votes
2answers
244 views
How does one include sign language in a dialogue?
If one character is using sign language and lip reading while the other is speaking normally, how do you represent the lines of the former? Quotations with "he signed" attribution or italics? E.g.
...
7
votes
4answers
211 views
What's a clear way to simulate web text in a story?
My novel includes excerpts of things like text from websites, tweets, and internet chats. I'm using Courier for the main novel font. Does switching to a san serif font make sense to represent the web ...
