Formatting a novel manuscript in Word means three things: defining paragraph styles instead of formatting text directly, putting real page breaks before chapters instead of pressing Return, and building the running header from a PAGE field so it renumbers itself. Get those right and the typography looks after itself.
What a Novel Manuscript Needs That a Short Story Does Not
The novel section of the manuscript format reference sets out three differences. A novel needs a separate title page rather than contact details sharing page one with the opening paragraph. Page numbering begins with 1 on the first page of actual text, not on the title page. And each chapter begins on its own page.
The running header takes the form "Surname / Title / page number", and the title page carries an approximate word count, given as something like "about 80,000 words".
Everything else matches the general convention: 12 point serif, double spaced, one inch margins, half inch first line indents, ragged right. Those are covered in font and spacing for manuscript submission.
Set Up Styles First
This is the step that separates a manuscript an editor can work with from one they have to repair.
Modify Word's built in styles rather than creating new ones, since built ins survive round trips through other programs better. You need four:
- Normal or Body Text: Times New Roman 12 point, double spaced, half inch first line indent, left aligned, no space before or after.
- First Paragraph: the same, with the first line indent removed. Applied to the paragraph after every chapter heading and every scene break.
- Heading 1: centred, for chapter headings, with "page break before" ticked in the paragraph settings so chapters open a new page automatically.
- A scene break style: centred, for the
* * *or#line.
Setting "page break before" on Heading 1 is the trick worth knowing. It means you never insert a page break by hand, and a chapter can never end up stranded mid page after an edit.
Then apply the styles and never touch the font controls again. If you find yourself selecting text and clicking bold, you are creating a problem for whoever receives the file. Direct formatting cannot be restyled in bulk, does not survive conversion cleanly, and hides the document's structure from Word's own navigation pane.
Build the Header From a Field
The header should read "Surname / TITLE / 6", and the number must be a field, not a typed digit. Insert it through the page number control rather than typing it, so Word recalculates it as the manuscript grows.
Suppressing the header on the title page is the part people get wrong. Word has a built in setting for exactly this, "Different first page", in the header and footer options. Turn it on and leave the first page header empty. Do not create a section break to achieve it, and do not delete the header and re add it, both of which produce documents that misbehave when edited later.
The result is a title page with no header, and chapter one beginning on page 2 with the header present, which is what the convention describes.
Save as .docx, and Check the Guidelines
Word's own format is what agents and editors want, because it is the format they can comment on and track changes in. Do not export to PDF unless asked: at least one established agency, Blake Friedmann, bans PDF submissions outright and asks for .doc or .docx, while others accept either. Guidelines vary enough that checking is not optional.
Name the file with your title and your name in it. Several agencies ask for this explicitly, and none object to it.
What Deckle Exports
Deckle produces all of the above directly from Compile, so none of the Word setup above has to be done by hand. Choose DOCX, set Export Variant to Word, and turn on Standard Manuscript Format in the Options tab.
What comes out:
- Times New Roman 12 point, double spaced, one inch margins on all four sides, half inch first line indents.
- Real Word paragraph styles throughout: Body Text, First Paragraph, Heading1, Heading2, Scene Break, and styles for block quotes and verse.
- A page break before every chapter heading.
- A title page with your contact block upper left, an approximate word count upper right rounded to the nearest 500 and rendered as "About 92,500 words", then the centred title and byline.
- A running header reading "SURNAME / TITLE / " followed by a live PAGE field, right aligned, suppressed on the title page so the text starts on page 2.
The contact block and the title come from the Metadata tab in Compile, so fill those in before exporting or the title page will be blank where your details should be.
One thing to check if you are submitting in the United States. Deckle's DOCX output uses A4 page dimensions with one inch margins, which is correct for the UK, Europe and most of the world. The Chicago Manual of Style gives one inch margins for both A4 and 8.5 by 11 inch paper, so the margins are right either way, but if a US agent has asked specifically for Letter you will want to change the page size in Word after exporting.
For the convention itself, see what is standard manuscript format. For the step by step in the app, see formatting your manuscript for literary agent submission. For the marks between scenes, see how to format scene breaks in a manuscript.
Common Mistakes
- Formatting directly instead of with styles. Nothing can be restyled in bulk afterwards, and the structure is invisible to Word.
- Typing the page number in the header. It must be a PAGE field or it stops being correct after one edit.
- Pressing Return to reach the next page. Set "page break before" on Heading 1 instead.
- Using a section break to kill the title page header. "Different first page" is the built in setting for this.
- Exporting to PDF by default. Editors need a file they can mark up, and some agencies refuse PDFs.
- Leaving metadata blank before exporting. The title page is built from it.
FAQ
Q: Should I use Word's built in styles or make my own? A: Modify the built ins. They survive conversion and round trips better than custom styles.
Q: How do I stop the header appearing on the title page? A: Turn on "Different first page" in the header and footer options and leave the first page header blank.
Q: Does the title page count as page 1? A: It counts, but carries no header. The first page of text shows as page 2 with the header on it.
Q: Do I need a table of contents? A: No. A novel manuscript does not carry one, and an agent does not want one.
Q: What about Google Docs or Pages? A: Both can produce an acceptable .docx, but check the styles and the header field survived the export before sending.