I've been told that manual line-breaks (or paragraph breaks) in an Open Office Writer document will result in 'huge gaps' in a kindle reader (after converting to mobi/html), but at risk of a silly question, what does that actually mean? Just a one-line gap, i.e as you see it in the document/page, or a much bigger gap? In other words, which manual line-breaks as revealed by using the pilcrow symbol tool should I remove.
You're not using manual line breaks between paragraphs, are you? Where are you using manual line breaks? Maybe between sections? It's probably best to use a symbol or some other graphic break instead of blank lines because you just can't be sure how the lines will work out. And obviously between chapters you're using a hard return, right? (CTRL-ENTER, for Word on a PC). Are there other places you're using manual line breaks?
If you're in scriv or similar just compile to mobi and have a look in a reader app - if it looks shit you'll know what you need to change
Yes, at the end of a chapter I am using ctrl-enter to start a new page for the next one and I'm applying 'heading 1' for the chapter titles and using 'body text' for general text... As to using manual line-breaks between paragraphs, yes I do, otherwise imho the text looks too blocky/congested. I also insert a blank line if I want to start a new section (not new chapter...). I get the impression though that you're suggesting I shouldn't do this? In that case, which style in Open Office Writer should I be using to force a new paragraph, or new section.
Good idea, thanks. I'm using calibre, so I could check with that maybe, but I would have to export the .odt file to word .doc first as calibre won't convert from .odt I don't think.
Yep, you're right, I overlooked that... So, anyway, how would I use 'styles' in openoffice writer to force a line-break (or paragraph break) if I shouldn't do it manually?
I don't use Open Office, I use Word, but I think they're reasonably similar... In Word, I modify paragraphs by hitting the arrow at the bottom right corner of the "paragraph" box on the home screen. That opens a window where you can change spacing between paragraphs, indents, etc. You may be able to play around and find that or you may have to wait until someone who uses Open Office comes along...
Accordfing to the kindle help pages the huge gaps from line breaks thing only happens in .txt files. Open office can save a word file (.doc) which according to kindle isn't a problem.