This may be news to you if you're a writer, but tabs are not the way to format paragraph indents. Not only is it an outdated method, but it can totally screw up your document when it comes to formatting for print, Kindle, and Nook. The first thing I do whenever I receive a document for book formatting is remove all tabs.
The way to format a paragraph indent in Microsoft Word:
1. Place your cursor in the paragraph you want to indent and choose Format-Paragraph (or something similar depending on what version of Word you are using).
2. A pop-up will allow you to select what kind of indenting. Here, I am choosing to have the First Line of the current paragraph, and each one that follows as I type, automatically indent by .25". This is how you'd want to set it up for most books.
3. You can also choose to have an entire paragraph indented. Choose Left or Right and the amount to indent under Indentation.
4. If you need to remove First Line indent (like for the first paragraph of a chapter or scene change), simply put your cursor anywhere inside that paragraph and go to step 2. Choose None under Special Indenting.
How do I replace the current tab marks?
Ah, now that you know this wonderful tidbit, you probably want to get rid of all those stupid tab marks in your document.
To remove tabs in a Word document:
1. Save a backup copy just in case.
2. Use Find and Replace under Edit. Click on Special on the pop-up window and choose Tab character. It will put tab code in the Find location. Leave Replace empty. Hit Replace All. All Tabs will magically disappear. Yay!
3. Now you have to make sure your paragraphs are indented. Since you still have paragraph marks in your document, highlight all the text that needs to be indented and follow the paragraph indenting steps above. I often do a Select-All for the story text, then unindent first chapter and scene change paragraphs afterward.
So there ya go. NEVER type a Tab character again. Because now you know what happens...
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From an editor who worked on several of my books:
ReplyDeleteHe's right.
Removing tabs was often one of the first things I would do upon receiving a manuscript at [company name].
Like two spaces after a period, the tab is a legacy of the typewriter and has become obsolete in the word processing age.
They're both hard habits to break! I started on a typewriter and wrote that way for 10 to 15 years before shifting to a proper word processor. But then it was probably another several years, during which submissions were still primarily hard copy, before I really left the tab and double space behind.
The great thing is that once you set the first line indentation, it's automatic. When you hit return at the end of a paragraph—that still works like the old days—you're good to go on the new paragraph without having to hit another key.