Formatting issue .....

[Preacher]

I am using Microsoft word 2000 for my manuscript. For my drafts, i am not indenting paragraphs, but when i do start to do proper formatting how do i properly indent? I was told you can not just type space bar 5 times or hit the tab key to create the indent.

[Beethovenfan]

Really? That's all I do (the tab key). I never knew there was a problem. Hmm, guess I'll check back to see what others have to say. Sorry I was no help, but thanks for posing the question! :)

[J. T. SHEA]

Preacher, go back to whoever told you that, hit them with an iron (not space) bar five times and indent their head. Then tell them I sent you.

[dios4vida]

Tabs are the generally accepted rule. Everything I've read says to use that over spaces.

Quick tip - on the top ruler there are little "L"s or arrows that indicate where the typing starts. There should be one upside-down L/arrow on top of a normal L/arrow. If you highlight your entire document (CTRL+A) and move the upside-down one in to 1/2 inch, your new paragraphs will automatically be indented. Problem solved, very easily!

[Preacher]

Ok, thanks, i see what you mean. I also actually went and experimented with a blank page and i found you can use the section labeled "paragraph" to set a first line off by 0.5, which i assume is what i am shooting for. It also has a way to change the margins for the left and right side. I normall leave them alone, am i supposed to set those numbers to something?

[dios4vida]

Ok, thanks, i see what you mean. I also actually went and experimented with a blank page and i found you can use the section labeled "paragraph" to set a first line off by 0.5, which i assume is what i am shooting for. It also has a way to change the margins for the left and right side. I normall leave them alone, am i supposed to set those numbers to something?

What you found in the menu is the setting for what I was explaining. :)

Some people leave the margins at 1.25" all around, some prefer 1", but as long as you stay within 1-1.25" it's all considered standard. So you can leave them alone and be okay.

[Collectonian]

I suspect the reason they suggested not using tabs was for easier quick reformatting, if needed, to meet a particular submission guideline. I like my paragraphs indented as well, so I use the paragraph format in Word to set it to automatically indent. I set the "Normal" style to do a half-inch indent on all paragraphs. This method is a bit more flexible because if you are submitting to someone who, for some reason doesn't want indented paragraphs, you can quickly remove all of the indents without having to go through the entire manuscript, you just modify the style. :-)

[Preacher]

Thanks, guys. I see where you say the indent can be .5 and the margins for all around should be somewhere between 1 and 1.25. I never used that either, i checked my pages and see those numbers are set to 0. So i went back and set the number to 1 and when i started writing a page it looked really, really strange to me, like there is a lot of space being wasted on the page. It looks like real tight coulms with lots of border space on the left and right. Seems to me that means less words per page. Maybe it looks odd because i have never used it LOL!

[Leila]

Preacher, go back to whoever told you that, hit them with an iron (not space) bar five times and indent their head. Then tell them I sent you.

Sorry this is off topic, but I've had a hard day and that is the funniest thing I've read in a while. Cheered me right up! Thanks.

Back on topic, these are great tips!