are manually formatting page breaks, headers and page numbering. Word can make your formatting a breeze by taking care of these tasks for you. Here we’ll create four styles: Manuscript Body Text, Manuscript Title, Manuscript Header and Manuscript Single Space.
I use Word 2003; if you are using a different version, your screens may be different than what I describe, but the steps will be very similar. There are many ways of doing these tasks, but this is one way. This article will show you how to create a basic document with the styles needed to format story and article manuscripts, as well as manuscripts for your lessons for The Institute of Children's Literature course.
Formatting A Page
Open Word. From the menu bar select File followed by New. Choose Blank document. From the menu bar select File, Save As. Select the directory you want this document to be saved in and give it the name Basic Template.doc.
The page has certain margins and header information that must be set to give your document boundaries. First we will make the boundaries for the margins and page orientation. Click File from the menu bar again, scroll down to Page Setup and click. Choose the Margins tab and make all margins one inch. The orientation should be Portrait.
Click the Layout tab. To allow for a different header on only the first page of the document, under the Headers and Footers section, click on the box for "Different first page". Set the header for one inch from the edge. You probably won’t need a footer, but you can leave it set at 0.5 where it is. Under the Preview Segment, it applies to the whole document. All headers will be one inch from the top of the page with a different first page header. Click OK. Select File from the menu and click Save.
Manuscript Body Text
The common style factors for the entire manuscript are the font, style and size. We will create the Manuscript Body Text style and base it on the Normal style Word created for you. Click Format from the menu selection and then choose Styles and Formatting. A box will appear at the right on your screen.
Select Normal from the formatting styles list at the top. Towards the top of the formatting box you have a choice of Select All or New Style. Click New Style. Give this new style the name Mss Body Text. The Style is based on Normal.
Click the Format button at the bottom of this box and choose Font. Now select New Times Roman for the font, Regular for the font style and 12 for the font size. No Effect should be checked. Click OK.
Click Format again and select Paragraph. This will set up your double spacing and first line indent. Select left for the Alignment and the Outline level will be body text. Indentation is 0 for both right and left. For the Special box, choose First line and .5 inches.
The spacing section is where we designate the double spacing. The space Before and After is set to 0. Set the Line spacing to Double. Click OK and then click OK again. The new style has been added to the list. Save your document.
Manuscript Title
The Manuscript Title is Times Roman 12 pt, but in all caps and centered. There is also a good deal of space above it. You need it to be half way down from the top edge of the page. The numbers I give you here will vary depending on your printer and the text in your header. Just use these numbers first and then adjust them after you measure where they appear on paper after printing.
Select Mss Body Text from the list of styles. Click on New Style above as you did before. Name your new style Mss Title. Click on the Format box and choose Font. The font should be Times New Roman 12 pt. Check the box for All caps in the Effects area. Make sure you do NOT check the box that says Small caps. Click OK.
Select Paragraph from the formatting options. Make the Alignment centered and again the Outline level will be body text. Indentation for left and right is zero and Special is (none). Set spacing Before to 200 pts. This brings the text down halfway. The spacing After is zero. Set the Line spacing to single. Click Ok. Click OK again. Your title will now be halfway down the page, centered and is single spaced. Again, you may have to adjust the spacing above to match your printer. Save your document.
Center Single Space Style
This style is created to allow you to add a single space byline below the title. You will also use it to add the other spaces you need between the title and the body text. Basically, this gives you a little flexibility beneath your title. Select Mss Body Text from your styles and click the New Style button. Give this style the name Mss Center Single Space. Click Format and select Font. Check the font to make sure it is New Times Roman, Regular, 12 pt. Click OK. Click the formatting button and select Paragraph. Set
Alignment to centered. Indentations are 0 and Special is (none). Space Before and After should be zero. Change the Line spacing to single and click OK and then click OK again. Save your document.
Headers
In the Page Setup we told Word we wanted a different first page. We still only need one style to do this. A word about headers. A header is text that appears at the top of every page or every other page or odd/even. The text in a header is not considered part of the text and is therefore not counted when you do a word count. Headings, on the other hand, are used within text to name sections and are part of the text.
Select Mss Body Text and then select New Style. Give your header style the name Mss Header. Click Format and select Font. It should be Times New Roman, Regular, 12 pt. Make sure no boxes are checked in the Effects section. Click OK and select Format, Paragraph. Select Left for the alignment. Indentation should be 0 for left and right. Special should be "(none)". Set Spacing Before and After to zero. Line spacing to single space. For this style you need one tab which will be right aligned. Click the Tabs button at the bottom of the paragraph formatting screen. Type 6.5 for the position, select right for alignment, the leader is none and then click Set. If you don't click Set, the tab will not be created. Now click OK and click OK again. Save your document.
A Manuscript Template
You now have all the styles necessary to create a properly formatted manuscript. When you wish to type up a story or an article, or one of your ICL course lessons, open your Basic Template document and perform a SAVE AS to keep your basic document from being altered. Then click Format, Styles and Formatting and one of the Mss Body Text, Mss Title, Mss Center Single Space, or Mss Header formats you have created to use with a document.
I would suggest that, to practice it at first, you start with your Manuscript Title format, and title your lesson or story or article. Next, switch to your Center Single Space Style and type in your byline. Then go to Mss Body Text to type the piece you are working on.
Just as you don’t want to "invent the wheel again," you don’t want to manually format every assignment or story or article you write all over again. So format those manuscripts once and for all!
