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Manuscript formatting
Aug. 21st, 2006 07:39 amI've just had a personal demonstration of why standard manuscript format matters...
As I've mentioned previously, one of the gentle ironies of my life is that although I am published by an ebook house, I do not normally read ebooks for pleasure. I'm one of the unfortunates for whom ebooks are physically more difficult to read than dead tree format, and the gap is large enough that it's simply not worth it for me, other than having a couple of familiar classics loaded on my Palm for when I'm stuck in a train station.
I also don't do much crit/beta reading for other writers these days, for related reasons. However, I *am* on one friend's crit group filter on LJ, and over the weekend I read the latest iteration of his current manuscript. (A month late, for various reasons, but no matter.) I think it's currently 60,000 words. And I happily read my way through half of that in one morning, on a screen, without having the issues that bug me with ebooks.
There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that it's work. Highly enjoyable work, but it's still mentally filed under "job". Which means sitting looking at a computer screen isn't really an issue for me as long as it's a decent screen, whereas I really don't like having to sit at a computer to read a book for pleasure. Books get read in all sorts of places, which means I don't want to be tied to a computer, sitting in one place and sitting in the appropriate posture. (Current handhelds do not do it for me.)
And the other reason is Standard Manuscript Format. I'm one of the folk who write in SMF even in a word processor. I'm used to looking at it. It is invisible. And it seems that it's invisible when I'm looking at someone else's manuscript. I'm not spending clock cycles on trying to interpret the layout.
I've known this for a long time, because it's one of the reasons I much prefer mailing lists and Usenet to web forums. I can set the appearance to what's comfortable for *me* and then forget about it. From then on everything looks the same, and I can run through at speed without having to consciously work out who said what. But this really drove it home to me. If the layout is effectively invisible, it makes it ever so much easier to read the text, and if you've been reading 12 point double-spaced Courier etc for years, then it's invisible. Even if it *is* ugly.
And someone who's going through umpty-ump manuscripts in the slushpile needs every little bit of extra reading comfort they can get. As ever -- formatting guidelines are not there because editors like messing with writers' heads. They are there to make the editor's job that little bit easier. RTFGuidelines, and follow them. Whatever format the editor wants, give it to them. And if it's not stated, assume the standard 12 point double-spaced Courier yadda yadda. Yes, it's boring and it's ugly. It's also invisible to most editors, and that's what you want if you want to make that editor just that little bit happier when they look at the first page. Editors are human. They will smile more kindly upon your attempt at fame and fortune if they don't get a headache simply from trying to read the thing.
As I've mentioned previously, one of the gentle ironies of my life is that although I am published by an ebook house, I do not normally read ebooks for pleasure. I'm one of the unfortunates for whom ebooks are physically more difficult to read than dead tree format, and the gap is large enough that it's simply not worth it for me, other than having a couple of familiar classics loaded on my Palm for when I'm stuck in a train station.
I also don't do much crit/beta reading for other writers these days, for related reasons. However, I *am* on one friend's crit group filter on LJ, and over the weekend I read the latest iteration of his current manuscript. (A month late, for various reasons, but no matter.) I think it's currently 60,000 words. And I happily read my way through half of that in one morning, on a screen, without having the issues that bug me with ebooks.
There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that it's work. Highly enjoyable work, but it's still mentally filed under "job". Which means sitting looking at a computer screen isn't really an issue for me as long as it's a decent screen, whereas I really don't like having to sit at a computer to read a book for pleasure. Books get read in all sorts of places, which means I don't want to be tied to a computer, sitting in one place and sitting in the appropriate posture. (Current handhelds do not do it for me.)
And the other reason is Standard Manuscript Format. I'm one of the folk who write in SMF even in a word processor. I'm used to looking at it. It is invisible. And it seems that it's invisible when I'm looking at someone else's manuscript. I'm not spending clock cycles on trying to interpret the layout.
I've known this for a long time, because it's one of the reasons I much prefer mailing lists and Usenet to web forums. I can set the appearance to what's comfortable for *me* and then forget about it. From then on everything looks the same, and I can run through at speed without having to consciously work out who said what. But this really drove it home to me. If the layout is effectively invisible, it makes it ever so much easier to read the text, and if you've been reading 12 point double-spaced Courier etc for years, then it's invisible. Even if it *is* ugly.
And someone who's going through umpty-ump manuscripts in the slushpile needs every little bit of extra reading comfort they can get. As ever -- formatting guidelines are not there because editors like messing with writers' heads. They are there to make the editor's job that little bit easier. RTFGuidelines, and follow them. Whatever format the editor wants, give it to them. And if it's not stated, assume the standard 12 point double-spaced Courier yadda yadda. Yes, it's boring and it's ugly. It's also invisible to most editors, and that's what you want if you want to make that editor just that little bit happier when they look at the first page. Editors are human. They will smile more kindly upon your attempt at fame and fortune if they don't get a headache simply from trying to read the thing.