Here are some down-and-dirty dos and don’ts for setting up a manuscript. (Keep in mind that you should always follow the specific guidelines set forth by the agent, publisher, or magazine.) I’ll start out with the general, big-ticket items and work my way down to crazy-editor pet peeves.

DO: use Microsoft Word

DON’T: use Pages, Google Docs, Word Perfect, or other programs for word processing

DO: conform to Chicago Manual of Style guidelines and Merriam-Webster spellings whenever applicable

DON’T: forget to run a spell check before submitting your manuscript  Continue reading →