I bet Maia will know the answer to this question, but I can't find the answer anywhere. I've been searching the net with no luck. Some novels will have a poem or something at the start of the chapter that is not part of the chapter. How is this formatted in a manuscript? Here is how I would do it, but I'm not sure it is right. In a printed novel the quote appears above Chapter 1. I put an extra space between Chapter 1 and the quote and after the quote. Should the line in front of The Book . . . be a hyphen or a double hyphen? (Centered)Chapter 1 (Extra space) Hope requires the contender Who sees no virtue in surrender. From the cradle to the bier. The heart must persevere. (Extra space) —The Book of Counted Joys (Extra space) (TAB)MY NAME IS ODD THOMAS, THOUGH IN THIS AGE WHEN fame is the altar at which most people worship, I am not sure why you should care who I am or that I exist. Oh, yeah, I forgot to site it. Dean Koontz, Odd Thomas.
it's an em dash and what you have is fine, arch... though you can indent the poem further, to show it will be printed as a 'block insert' if you wish... and i would lose all those caps for the opening words, if i were you, since it's a styling detail that is up to the book designer to choose to do, not the writer's call... and if [as i suspect] that is an excerpt from dean koontz's novel, you must cite it...
Thank you, Maia. I added the citation. In the novel the poem appears above the chapter of course, but I never saw how this is done in a manuscript, but I'm glad I guessed correctly.
