I'm using Microsoft word for Mac.



I'm trying to submit a novella to a publisher and I'm confused by their formatting requirements. Here is the line that baffles me:

"Please format all manuscripts in single line with the first line indented, and no double space between paragraphs (and no tabs in the document)."

I know single line means single spacing, so that isn't a problem. But I don't know how to make it so there are no tabs. I've tried going to Format, Tabs, Clear All, then hitting OK. But that doesn't seem to do it.

Is there a way to make it so all my tabs will move left, to the beginning?

Also, does that look like what they're asking for, based on those directions I posted?

I'm under the understanding that I have to remove all the tabs, so all the tabs disappear, and then figure out how to make it so the first line of each paragraph is indented. Which to me seems the same as having tabs at the beginning of each paragraph, but I guess that's beside the point.

I might be misinterpreting the directions though. Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you.

You can certainly remove any custom tab stops in the selection, by using the Clear All option, but you can't get rid of the default tab stops.

However, it's possible that the instructions refer to tab characters, that is, the ones that get inserted as you press the Tab key. At least in WinWord, you can display tab characters (arrows pointing to the right) by clicking the ¶ button (found on a toolbar or ribbon tab). See if you find any and delete them.

To apply true indents to text, use the Paragraph dialog box.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

This is a little beside the point, but I just wanted to point out the following.


When I search for ¶, I see them all over the document. But when I erase them, it removes the line between my paragraphs. So let's say it looks like this:

Hi my name's taylor this is cool. ¶

I want there to be a break between these two sentences.

Okay, now when I remove the ¶, it looks like this:

Hi my name's taylor this is cool. I want there to be a break between these two sentences.
'
But as soon as I hit return again, to make the paragraphs separate, as they should be, the ¶ returns.

I think what I need to do is erase all formatting in my ms word document. Again, this is Microsoft word for mac. Does anyone know how to remove all formatting in a document?

Thank you so much!

To Word, the paragraph mark is the end of a paragraph, and the mark stores all formatting associated with a particular paragraph. Each time you press Enter, a paragraph mark is being added. In recent versions of Word, the default is to have some spacing after defined, which means that pressing Enter will create a paragraph with some spacing added. To insert a line break within a paragraph, you can use Shift+Enter (again, at least that's the appropriate key combination in WinWord).

To reset all paragraphs to the default formatting, apply Normal style to all text.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Thanks so much, Stefan.

Applying normal setting seemed to work. All the tabs went away. So that seems good. Then I went to Format, Paragraph, and specified that it indent .5 on the first line. I think that is what they want, based on the instructions. But I had one more question. The publisher gave these instructions:

Please format all manuscripts in single line with the first line indented, and no double space between paragraphs (and no tabs in the document).

Our preferred font is Verdana, with the text in 12 point and the chapter headings in Bold 16 Point (centered).


I have two other quick questions. The first is about centered. They request that the chapter headings be centered, so centered must not count as a tab, right? The reason I ask is sometimes I have these breaks between sections that look like this:

* * * *

And I'm wondering if it's okay to center that. Since they asked the chapter headings to be centered, I figure centering is different than tabs, but I was just hoping you could clear that up for me.


Second question is about backspacing. Will that affect the document in a bad way? For example, after I applied normal to the entire document, parts would look like this:

blahblahblah




chapter two


If I want to bring chapter two closer to the 'blahblahblah', so there isn't a big gap between them, do you think that would mess up the formatting, in the same way that tabbing lines apparently messes up the formatting?

Thanks again. I really appreciate your help. Couldn't do this without ya.

To center a paragraph is separate from adding tabs, yes. You can use the Ctrl+E shortcut to apply center formatting.

The best way to delete "excessive" spacing depends on how it was added in the first place. If you pressed Enter you can backspace to delete the paragraph marks thus inserted. To get a better view of what is going on, display nonprinting marks for example by pressing the ¶ button (not sure where you'll find it in MacWord though).

With nonprinting marks displayed, paragraph marks show as ¶ symbols.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

When I hit the ¶ button I see many ¶ in those excessive spaces.

So it looks like this.
¶
¶
¶
¶
Chapter Two


I suppose you get the idea. So if I delete those ¶ symbols (there is no backspace key on my macbook), it should be fine? That would get rid of the spacing, and the ¶ symbols.

Thanks again for all your help!

Yes, you can delete those paragraph marks. Remember that each paragraph mark is counted as a paragraph in Word (even if it has no text in it).

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

So what does that imply? Just that it affects the formatting, right?

Yes, even if no text is printed (obviously) from a blank paragraph, its settings (line spacing, font size, spacing before/after) affect the layout of the document, because they take up vertical and horizontal space in the document.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Cool. Thanks again!