Formatting a Novel in OpenOffice.org Writer

I spent a large chunk of yesterday digging around on the web, trying to figure out how to format a novel in OpenOffice.org Writer. In order to potentially save you from a similar gruelling process, I'd like to share with you what I found, and what I worked out for myself. (I am assuming Microsoft Word has a similar set of command functions, but I'm not 100% sure.)

My questions were:

ONE: How do I add pages at the beginning of my book, without page numbers – and get the page numbers starting where I want them to, and starting at #1?

1. Type out the pages you want not to have numbers (or hit enter a bunch of times, so you have a couple of blank pages).

2. Make sure your cursor is on the first page. Press F11. This will bring up a Styles and Formatting menu. Click the forth icon from the left at the top of this menu (page styles). Click Index, then double click your page again. (Note, you may have to change your margins back to the way you want them after this, so it might be best to do this first).

3. At the bottom of the text on your final numberless page, click Insert>Manual Break>Select Page Break and set your style to Default. Check Change Page Number and change the page number to 1.

4. On your first numbered page, click Insert> either Header or Footer, whatever your preference>Default.

5. Click inside the grey header box. Click Insert>Fields>Page Number.
You can change the font, colour, etc of your page numbers by highlighting any one of them and altering it the same way you would ordinary text.

TWO: How do I make my book look like a book? (Also, how do I know how many pages my book will be when it's printed in Novel-form?)

Personally, I can't stand to type on anything other than the standard, almost paper-sized white space that pops up when I click new word document. So, I would do this after I'd written it, but if you don't mind writing in a smaller space, you can do it first and save yourself some time later.

1. Find/Decide on your size. There are many standard novel sizes, the one used by CreateSpace and favoured by Lulu.com is 6x9 inches or 15.24x22.86 centimetres (1 inch = 2.54cm. Always a good thing to keep in mind.)

2. Click Format>Page and click the Page Tab. On the right side of the dialogue box, under “Layout Settings”, change the Page Layout to Mirrored. If you're using a 6x9 base, good margins to use are Inner: 2.00cm, everything else: 1.00cm. This leaves enough room on your inner margin for binding.

3. Justify your text. If you're like me, that makes you think of clicking the little justify button. Don't do that; it's not specific enough. Click Format>Paragraph and click the Alignment Tab. Select Justified, and make sure the Last Line is set to Left. This stops your text being spread across the page. Note that this only works when the program recognizes your paragraphs, which if they're indented properly, it will about 85% of the time. If you're still getting words spread across the page, go the end of the paragraph and hit enter, then bring the following paragraph back to where it should be.

4. Choose your font(s). I'm using two, one for chapter titles, one for everything else. If you're self-publishing, make sure your font choices are shareware or public domain, and not protected from commercial use by copyright laws.

5. Choose your spacing. Personally, I'm a fan of 1.5, but it depends on what you like. Most novels are single spaced or close to. I've never come across one that's double spaced, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Format>Paragraph. Click the Indents and Spacing tab and adjust your spacing however you like it.

6. See it in book layout. Click File>Page Preview, then select the Book Preview button (the seventh icon from the left, next to the magnifying glass).

If you have any specific questions (or any other information to add), comment and/or post. I'd be happy to try to find answers to any formatting questions anyone might have, as I'm sure this is stuff we'll all need to know, sooner or later.