Hello all. I'm writing my first novel and want to know the standard format for chapters. I realise each should begin a new page, however in word I'm unsure as to the format. I'd like to keep it looking clean and professional. Any advice appreciated - also if anyone has any good online resources for dialogue formatting that'd be helpful.
I think you need to insert a 'section break' – sure you can use that to get you onto a new page without the clunky use of carriage returns. E.T.A Remiss of me to not say Hello. So Hello.
Thanks for the quick reply. I meant more in terms of the heading for each chapter. Do I just put Chapter 2? Is there a standard way of doing this?
I'm no expert with word but I believe this can be done with 'bullets and numbering'; I'm sure there's an option in there that offers 'Chapters' (that can be then auto-numbered). It'll depend too on your version of word. I've a habit of pressing 'F1' when using MSOffice products, I put a search in the dialogue box that comes up to help me unearth any functionality I suspect the software has.
Just do a Google search for "microsoft word novel templates" and you should find lots of examples. If you have an older version of Word, you might want to search for "microsoft word 2007 novel templates" (or whichever version you have). I have double-spacing set up, do a Ctrl-Enter to start a new chapter, then hit Enter eight times, center and type CHAPTER, then the number. Enter twice more, then the first paragraph of the new chapter.
As for a heading it should be centered and at least double spaced from the body of the chapter. You can put it many ways: Chapter 2 (Alternatively don't put a space between the word and number) 2 ii or II Two The blank the day when the blank happened (don't see the mini titled chapters too often these days).
