how to format your story, a crash course
because my writing major soul dies a little bit more every time i see a perfectly good story improperly formatted.
this is a guide specifically for ao3 posting
1. Put A Double Return (Enter) Between Each Paragraph Instead Of An Indentation
fanfic is not academic writing. you don't need an indent at the beginning of each line. for the sake of scrolling it just makes it more organized and easier to read. The double return puts a space between the two paragraphs as seen here:
2. Make A New Paragraph Every Time The Camera Moves Or A New Thought Is Addressed
what the hell does that mean, youre probably asking. allow me to show you.
these are each three separate thoughts. so they each get their own paragraph. think about it like the reader is taking a pause between each thought, where should those pauses go?
3. Put A New Paragraph Every Time A New Person Speaks
do not and i repeat DO NOT write your dialogue like this:
"blah blah blah" he said. "blah blah blah" she said. "blah blah blah" they said. "blah blah blah" he said. "blah blah blah" she said.
it is impossible to read and its confusing and people will click off your story. dialogue should look like this:
see how each time a different person talks there's a new line? there can be not dialogue mixed with the dialogue, but every time the person speaking changes, there would be a new line.
