Why Formatting Your Manuscript Matters (Even When No One’s Watching)

Let’s talk about something deeply unsexy, but surprisingly transformative.

Manuscript formatting.

Yep – not craft, not publishing, not mindset. Formatting.

It’s one of those small things that can make an enormous difference. A professionally formatted manuscript can change your writing process, your submissions, your confidence, and yes – your chances of getting published.

If you’re writing a novel or creative nonfiction book and have even the smallest dream of sending it out into the world one day, it’s worth learning how to format your manuscript properly.

Not just at the end of the process, but right from the start. I’m going to tell you why.

How to Format Your Manuscript (The Practical Bit)

Let’s cover the basics so you know what I’m talking about. You can easily find guidelines for your specific circumstances with a swift Google, but here’s what standard manuscript format usually means for novels and creative nonfiction in the UK:

• 12pt Times New Roman (or an equally readable serif font)

• Double-spaced lines (or 1.5 if you must)

• 2.5cm (1 inch) margins all round

• Left aligned, not justified

• No extra spaces between paragraphs – just a simple indent at the beginning of each new one (except for the first line after a scene break)

• Extra spaces between paragraphs for scene breaks (with no indent)

• Each new chapter starts on a new page, with a page break

• Page numbers, usually in the footer (still useful for editorial discussions and navigating the text)

• Header (usually top right) with your name and the title of the work, depending on submission guidelines.

• No fancy fonts. No pictures. No coloured text.

How to Format Dialogue

This is the bit a lot of writers trip over, or don’t bother with – especially in early drafts.

• Here’s the golden rule: new speaker = new paragraph.

• Use single quotation marks: ‘Like this.’ (in the US, double is standard)

• Indent each new paragraph, i.e. each new speaker

• Punctuation stays inside the quotation marks

• Don’t capitalise the speech tag that comes after quotation marks (e.g. ‘Yep, even if the dialogue ends with a question mark or exclamation!’ he said.)

• Don’t centre or bold dialogue (italics is fine for emphasis, to indicate internal thought or – more commonly – words in a foreign language)

Why Manuscript Formatting Matters – Even When No One’s Watching

So far, so boring.

Most people see manuscript formatting as a tedious job – something to worry about later. But I think it goes deeper than that. There’s a reason books are presented the way they are, rooted in making your text easier to absorb – both on the page and in the brain. It’s designed to make the experience of reading seamless and immersive. Those things can help us during the writing process too, so I encourage you to format your manuscript properly right from the start.

Here's why: