Formatting Saves Lives

Mary walked down the street alone. She may not have had anyone with her, but she was determined. She refused to be afraid of anything. She had just made a decision that would change her life, forever. 

Yikes. Is anybody else worried about Mary? It seems pretty clear that Mary is heading into trouble. But why exactly are we so certain? Here, let's try reading that again.

Mary walked down the street alone. She may not have had anyone with her, but she was determined. She refused to be afraid of anything. She had just made a decision that would change her life, forever. 

But wait, now Mary seems like she could be determinedly heading off to a bright future. What's the difference? The first and second versions are worded exactly the same. The only difference is the font. The first passage is written using the Chiller font, while the second utilizes Monotype Corsiva. This may seem like a small difference, but it really made a difference for Mary. Formatting saves lives.

Though it may be overlooked, formatting really shouldn't be undervalued. Simple decisions about aspects like font can make a massive impact on a story. Mary, for example, appeared to be in danger in the first snippet. However simply switching the font turned Mary's snippet into a much more hopeful piece. One change completely altered the tone of the piece.

As well as saving character's lives, formatting can save writer's lives too. Formatting decisions can be brushed off or postponed until the last moment, but that can be a mistake. A failure to format a story correctly can lead to a premature rejection. I know, because that happened to me for the first time. Thankfully I didn't have a blunder like that with my manuscript, but I did with my recent submission to the writing contest.

I made a silly little mistake by forgetting to change the spacing of my short story from single to double spaced. I was kind of upset with myself for the error, but in the end, it was still fun to participate. It was exciting to race against the clock and to write with such a clear purpose. I've learned my lesson though and I will definitely double check my formatting in the future.

So just remember everyone, formatting saves lives!

- Hi, there! I'm sorry it's been so long. I didn't realize just how long until I started writing this post today. I've been pretty busy lately, but I'm hoping to get back to posting more regularly. Also Happy World Book Day, everybody!