| Author |
Message |
    
Jay Squires
Awareness Member
Post Number:
10
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 02:52 pm: |   |
I need a little help from any of you with editing experience. When you are including a letter (of the missive, not the alphabet, variety) in the double-spaced text of a story, is it permissible to single-space the letter? Actually, it is a series of email correspondencs in the body of a story, but that shouldn't make any difference. Since the email begins on the second page of the short story, though, I don't want to turn off the editor (if doing it is a forbidden practice) before he gets deep enough in the story to become hopelessly hooked and say, "Oh, to hell with it, I'm not letting this story get away simply because the writer is an idiot-savant. Ah, my!
Jay Squires |
Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2076
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 03:08 pm: | |
Long time, no see, my friend...
As for your question, I wouldn't think that it would be a problem to single-space the letter. Perhaps it would also be good to have different indents for the letters/e-mails as well, to set them apart from the story itself?
However, this is just my opinion from the peanut gallery...
Mindsight Moderator
Check out Who Needs a Hero?
|
Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number:
1778
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 03:09 pm: | |
I've not seen anything that states which way it should be done, but where I have included letters I add an extra line from my text then insert the correspondence and indent each line of the correspondece 5 spaces.
http://www.pacwriter.netfirms.com/ |
LaurieAnne
Unity Member
Post Number:
1757
Registered: 12-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 03:30 pm: | |
I've dealt with diary entries as being separated from the body text by being placed in italics. That usually works quite well for letters as well, and is what I have seen as close to being a standard.
LA
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Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
3636
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 03:55 pm: | |
Hi Jay, Long time no hear. Good to see ya.
I indent and single space them. When editing for a publisher, I was advised to make sure letters or diary entries were indented and single spaced. Whether that particular publisher is correct I cannot say, but that is the way he prefers.
Laurel Johnson
Author: The Grass Dance
The Alley of Wishes
Color of Laughter, Color of Tears
|
Jay Squires
Awareness Member
Post Number:
11
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 05:23 pm: | |
So nice talking to all my old friends (makes me feel so young). Thank you all for your suggestions. I tried them. Aesthetically, it's much better. It breaks the text up nicely. And it reduces an otherwise very long short story by about five pages, keeping it within the acceptible length of many mags.
Anyway, I'll try not to be so much of a stranger.
Where are Lynn and Toyce? They usually put in their five or six cents worth.
Jay |
Joyce Scarbrough
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
492
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 05:53 pm: | |
Jay, you handsome devil! Where have you been?
Letters within your text should be separated by an extra line, should be in italics, and should have the same indentation and margins as the rest of the text. This is the format used for Judy Blume's Forever by Simon & Schuster's Pocket Books.
Toyce
True Blue Forever
Read the first chapter at http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Read two chapters of Different Roads at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/mtr.asp?id=7737&loc=ShortStory
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Our children have only one childhood, so do whatever it takes to make it happy!
|
Mark P. Wirtz (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: pcp0010634226pcs.poolr01.ga.comcast.net
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 08:00 pm: | |
Manuscript formatting and published book formatting have different rules.
While many of the traditional manuscript formatting rules have loosened up since the event of the word processor (i.e. italics used to be a no-no), it might be good to know the conventional form before breaking it: Passages as described above should still be double-spaced, yet underlined, only paragraphs indented.
Mark Wirtz
www.markwirtz.com |
cora morace
Awareness Member
Post Number:
14
Registered: 11-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 08:53 pm: | |
Well hello Jay! Where have you been keeping yourself? I miss our group, but probably was as much to blame for its demise as anyone. As you know I'm not exactly the "style" queen, so I can't answer your question. Just wanted to pop in and say hi.
CJ Morace |
Jay Squires
Awareness Member
Post Number:
12
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 19, 2004 - 05:32 pm: | |
Hi, Toyce and Cora. Cora, I don't know what happened to it. All of the sudden, there were no more stories coming my way. So, I stopped sending my contributions out. Ah, well. We had some fun with it, and I for one learned something.
Toyce, I understand the italisizing and the skipping of a space, but do you still single space the letter? And, do you think it would be the same for mags as novels?
Jay |
Joyce Scarbrough
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
498
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 20, 2004 - 07:51 am: | |
Jay, I would double-space the letter, but if you decide to go with single spacing, I think it's probably one of those "iffy" things editors would be more likely to forgive you for.
Toyce
True Blue Forever
Read the first chapter at http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Read two chapters of Different Roads at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/mtr.asp?id=7737&loc=ShortStory
Pour yourself a glass of bubbly and check out Champagne Books http://www.champagnebooks.com
Our children have only one childhood, so do whatever it takes to make it happy!
|
priceless1
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
489
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 20, 2004 - 10:57 am: | |
Jayster, you big dog! Long time no hear. We miss you terribly. I am offering no help to you because I turn everything over to my editors. They have all the up to date formatting. I just wanted to jump in and say a big hi and send you a big ol' hug.
Lynn |
Jay Squires
Awareness Member
Post Number:
13
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 20, 2004 - 11:16 am: | |
Thanks again, Toyce. And, Lynn... A hug would be nice. In fact, all you ladies, come on, a big ol' group hug, okay? And you guys... a group shake. Would a group shake be a tremmmmble?
Jay |
Jay Squires
Awareness Member
Post Number:
14
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 11:29 am: | |
Hey, if you wonderful people haven't tired of me yet, I would like to ask your opinion on another issue, perhaps two:
What is the plural of e-mail? Or, if that is the plural, what is the singular? I'm having trouble with this. Ripped from the body of my short story is the sentence, "and then there were the email [doesn't sound right] to a few chosen competitors." Hear me out... If it weren't electonic mail you got but you found a letter, just one letter, in your mailbox, would you say, "Hey, I got a mail in my box." ?? If you tell me you would say "I got a letter in my box," I would wonder why, electronically, you wouldn't have one e-letter and two or more email. See what I'm driving at?
Would anyone or all of you ones like to jump in here? I'm not simply being hypothetical; I'd like to send my story out today or tomorrow -- but not with what might be viewed as flagrant errors.
And, while you are at it, which is the more correct, e-mail or email.
Jay |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1792
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 12:15 pm: | |
as far as e-mail or email, I go with email..... and I would be tempted to say (emails) to a few chosen competitors. But, I am not the most grammatically perfect or competent person in the world, so you might wait for someone more skilled to chime in on this.
Claudia
MINDSIGHT MODERATOR
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Joyce Scarbrough
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
508
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 09:01 pm: | |
I agree with Claudia that "e-mails to a few chosen competitors" sounds better. But, to be safe, (since I don't know the official rule) I would use "e-mail messages." My motto is "When in doubt, re-word!"
Toyce
True Blue Forever
Read the first chapter at http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Read two chapters of Different Roads at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/mtr.asp?id=7737&loc=ShortStory
Pour yourself a glass of bubbly and check out Champagne Books http://www.champagnebooks.com
Our children have only one childhood, so do whatever it takes to make it happy!
|
Matt Dinniman
Wandering Member
Post Number:
264
Registered: 04-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 10:50 pm: | |
I went and looked it up, and technically (that is, according to the dictionary) e-mail is the correct plural form; however, many editors with prominent magazines have shunned the rule because it makes it sound odd. Use "e-mails," and you'll be fine, I say. |
Mary Erickson
Wandering Member
Post Number:
106
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 - 09:16 am: | |
Hi, Jay. Nice to see you on this board. Are you still writing some poetry or are you merely involved in book manuscripts with cumbersome form questions? I found a site awhile back, which spells out the rules pretty well. The authors are literary agents. The site is http://harrisdonahue.tripod.com/id4.html. One rule that surprised me is that, according to this site, you shouldn't use italics at all, but underline the passage instead. Has anyone else heard of this rule?
Mary |
Jay Squires
Awareness Member
Post Number:
15
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 - 06:51 pm: | |
Thanks everyone.
Jay |
Jay Squires
Awareness Member
Post Number:
16
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 - 07:01 pm: | |
And, Mary, yes I am still working on my poetry, but mainly trying to crack the short story market. I thought it would be the fastest way to get my name in circulation. I'm finding out, though, that the only one my name is circulating to is the editor who reads my submission -- at least partly -- then shoots it back to me with a luke-warm rejection slip. I got one story accepted by the Timbercreek Review, which came out in their November issue. Seven or eight others are out there, but still haven't found a home.
Now, aren't you glad you asked?
Jay |
Joyce Scarbrough
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
509
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 07:29 am: | |
Mary, according to Sol Stein in How to Grow a Novel, the use of italics and other word processing capabilities is a matter of preference. If the publisher/agent you're submitting to doesn't specifically say not to use them, they are okay to use.
Toyce
True Blue Forever
Read the first chapter at http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Read two chapters of Different Roads at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/mtr.asp?id=7737&loc=ShortStory
Pour yourself a glass of bubbly and check out Champagne Books http://www.champagnebooks.com
Our children have only one childhood, so do whatever it takes to make it happy! |
Jay Squires
Awareness Member
Post Number:
17
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 04:57 pm: | |
Toyce ~
Then, I'll take that as the final word: anything means anything. Thank you for your usual tenacity, Toyce, and may you and everyone else on the site have a prosperous and wordfilled new year.
Jay |
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