Inventing Reality: A Guide to Writing Science Fiction
Manuscript basics
When submitting a story to a magazine or a book publisher, your story should appear in a specific format.
Following this format is important for a number of reasons. First, the format makes reading easier for an editor. You certainly would rather want an editor to spend more time enjoying your writing then trying to figure out what words you’ve written. In addition, using a manuscript format is a sign of professionalism. After all, if you can’t make the effort to present your story in a readable form, then an editor probably is wondering if you’ve taken the time to write a quality story.n Paper – Use white 8.5 x 11 bond; 20 pound is sufficient. This is the standard letter-sized paper that you’d put in a photocopy machine or a printer. Do not use erasable paper.
n Margins - Leave 1 inch of blank space on each side of the paper.
n Typeface – 12 pt. Courier monospace is preferred among most science fiction editors, but Times also will do. Don’t use boldface or italics; instead, underline words when you intend for italics to be used in the text.
n Alignment - Run the text ragged right (aka justified left).
n Double space - No extra space should appear between the paragraphs, however.
n Indentation – Indent the first line of each paragraph by 3-5 spaces.
n Printing - Type on only one side of the paper.
n First page of short stories - Place your name, address, phone number and the word count on the first page. Science fiction practice is not to place the “rights offered” on the first page, as is the case in other genres. Center your title about 15 lines from the top, then put “by” and your name beneath it. Use the name you want to be published under at this point in the manuscript.
n Headers - For the second and subsequent page, an inch from the top in the upper right corner of each page type your name, story title and the page number.
n Ending - At the story’s end, center “END” in capital letters two lines below the last line.
n Printer quality - Use fresh toner or ribbon. Don’t send “draft-quality dot matrix” copies (yes, some people still are using those printers).
While the manuscript basics presented here are fairly standard across the industry, always read the magazine’s or publisher’s writer’s guidelines to see if they have some unique requirement that breaks these guidelines. This is particularly true for e-magazines, which also are concerned about the ease of posting your accepted story onto a Web site.
You Do It
Format one of the short stories you've written. Rename this file on your computer so you have atemplate for future stories.