Here’s how I tell my clients to format manuscripts, just so you have all the rules in one place:

** And again, you can write however you want. This is how you submit professionally.

Basics

• Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt

• Spacing: Double-spaced

• Margins: 1 inch on all sides

• Alignment: Left-aligned (not justified)

Paragraphs

• Indent: 0.5 inch (use paragraph settings, not tabs/spaces)

• First paragraph of a chapter/scene: no indent

• All others: indented

• No extra space between paragraphs

Scene Breaks

• Use a blank line + * or # centered

• Then next paragraph = no indent

Dialogue

• New speaker = new paragraph

• Keep standard indentation

Emails / Letters / Texts in Fiction

• No indentation

• Full blank line between paragraphs

• Same font, margins, and double spacing

File Type

• Submit as .doc or .docx (Microsoft Word)

Header (optional but standard)

• Last Name / Title / Page Number

• Top right corner

Clean. Readable. Familiar.

The goal isn’t to be fancy—it’s to make sure nothing about your formatting distracts from your story.