Every time I edit my ms's I have to remove the indent of the first line in each new chapter or scene to it's usual position before submitting. I was wondering if there's a way to create a template in ms word that resembles a manscript regarding this. That makes indents for each new paragraph EXCEPT the first after a blank space (scen or chapter break)? ANyone who knows? Or if pages or Scrivener can do this?
I use OpenOffice, but have exactly the same problem. I find that if I backspace the indent from the first line of a new chapter, or first line of a scene after a line break, then it removes the indent setting for the whole document. What I do to avoid this, is wait until I've pressed enter on the keyboard - this seems to set the indent. I can then go back and backspace the first line without it removing the indent settings for the rest of the document. I've not discovered a way to do this automatically.
Yes, I usually do this the last thing I do after the final edits, because as you said, otherwise it removes the indents for the rest as well. I just wish there was a template that could do this. I've checked the manuscript templates in Word and while the seem good they still have indents in those places where it shouldn't be any.
I found instructions on how to use styles to work around this problem. Basically, create a style for non-indented paragraphs and a style for indented paragraphs and set it so that when you are in a non-indented paragraph and you press enter, it creates an indented paragraph for you. Not an ideal solution, but better than manually removing indents.
