Standard Manuscript Format: Exact Settings for Novels

Standard manuscript format for a novel is 12 point Times New Roman (or Courier), black, double spaced, with 1 inch margins, a 0.5 inch first-line indent, no extra space between paragraphs and a ragged right edge. Every page after the title page carries a header with your surname, a short title and the page number.

The title page holds your contact details top left, a rounded word count, and the title and byline centred about a third of the way down. Each chapter starts on a new page, scene breaks get a centred # or three asterisks, and the file is usually a .docx. If an agent or publisher posts their own guidelines, theirs win.

StoryWith AI is our own product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.

Key takeaways

• The core settings barely vary: 12 point serif font, double spacing, 1 inch margins, 0.5 inch indent, left aligned, italics for emphasis.
• Novels get a separate title page. Page 1 is the first page of the story, not the title page.
• Word count is rounded, and taken from your word processor, not the old 250-words-a-page estimate.
• Sources disagree on three details: Courier vs Times New Roman, how to round the word count, and # vs *** for scene breaks.
• The recipient's guidelines override everything here. Check the agency or publisher's submissions page first.
• StoryWith AI's exports are not submission files. Expect to apply the format yourself in Word.

What are the exact settings, element by element?

The standard column is the safe default; notes show where sources differ.

Which sources agree on the basics?

We read six guides on 2 November 2026, and they agree on most of the table. Carol Saller's Shop Talk post for the Chicago Manual of Style (dated 12 January 2021) says: "Double-space everything, even if you single-space while drafting. Editors value the extra white space on screen and on paper. Indent the first line of paragraphs, and don’t add extra space between paragraphs."

William Shunn's sample novel manuscript (last updated 25 October 2025) sets out the novel-specific rules: "a novel manuscript requires a separate title page. Page numbering begins with 1 on the second page of the manuscript (the first page of actual text), and each chapter begins on its own page." Writer's Digest (dated 22 December 2014) adds: "Start each new chapter on its own page, one-third of the way down the page."

Where do the sources disagree?

Three details split the guides. The quotes below also draw on Shunn's brief formatting checklist (dated 20 January 2024), Kindlepreneur's guide by Dave Chesson (updated 25 June 2026) and Scribophile Academy's guide by Kelly Hart (no date shown; read on 2 November 2026). Whichever option you pick, use it consistently.

Courier or Times New Roman?

Courier is the older convention. In 2020, Shunn split his guide into two versions, explaining in a post announcing the change (dated 16 April 2020): "The Modern Edition displays in a proportional serif font with one space between sentences, while the Classic Edition displays in a monospaced font with two spaces between sentences."

His checklist accepts both: "Font: Times New Roman or Courier New, 12 points, black." Scribophile says Courier and Arial "may also be acceptable, but to be safe stick with Times New Roman unless otherwise specified."

The practical answer: Times New Roman unless a market asks for Courier. Underlining went the same way; Shunn's checklist says "Emphasis: Italics, not underlining."

How should the word count be rounded?

Everyone rounds, to different units.

• Shunn's checklist: "rounded to nearest hundred (or nearest 500 for longer manuscripts)."
• Scribophile: "The approximate word count, to the nearest hundred, at the upper right of the title page."
• Kindlepreneur: "Approximate word count, rounded to the nearest thousand."

Any of these is acceptable. Use the same figure on the title page and in your query letter: 87,412 words becomes "about 87,000 words" or "about 87,400 words".

The number itself should come from your word processor. Shunn answered a reader who still used the 250-words-per-page rule in a 2021 post (dated 23 April 2021): "Publishers today use the actual computer-generated word count, not the old rule-of-thumb estimate." If you are unsure whether your total fits your genre, check it against our novel word count by genre tool.

A # or three asterisks for scene breaks?

Scribophile says: "Use a blank line to indicate scene breaks, and center a hash mark (#) in the middle of the blank line." Kindlepreneur says to "type and center 3 asterisks (***) or 3 hashes (###)" on an otherwise blank line.

Both are fine. Avoid a bare blank line: in a double-spaced file it is easy to miss, and at a page break it disappears.

For the last line of the book, Kindlepreneur says "Type “END” or a hash (#) after the last line of your manuscript," and Scribophile offers the same choice: "Or, simply write The End."

How do I set this up in Microsoft Word?

Change the Normal style rather than selecting all the text, so new paragraphs inherit the format.

1. Font. Home tab, right-click Normal in the Styles gallery, Modify. Set Times New Roman, 12, black.
2. Paragraph dialog. In the same window, Format > Paragraph. Alignment Left; Special: First line, By 0.5"; Spacing Before 0 pt, After 0 pt; Line spacing Double.
3. Margins and hyphenation. Layout > Margins > Normal (1 inch). Layout > Hyphenation > None.
4. Header. Double-click the top margin and tick Different First Page so the title page has none. On page 2, right-align the header, type Surname / Short Title / , then Page Number > Current Position > Plain Number.
5. Numbering. Page Number > Format Page Numbers, Start at 0, so the first page of chapter one shows 1.
6. Chapters. Press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on a Mac) before each chapter title, or set Page break before in your chapter heading style (Format > Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks). Add blank lines above the title to bring it a third of the way down.
7. First paragraphs and breaks. Set the indent to 0 for the first paragraph after a chapter title or scene break. Type # centred, unindented, on its own line for each break.
8. Save. File > Save As > Word Document (.docx), named as the agent asks, or Surname_Title_Date.docx, the pattern Kindlepreneur suggests.

What goes on the first page?

For a novel, the first page is a title page. Single-spaced contact details sit top left: legal name, address, phone, email. Chicago's post adds: "Put the date in a cover letter, not on the manuscript." The rounded word count goes top right, the title and "by" line in the centre, and the rest stays blank.

There is one exception. Chicago notes that when an agent asks for a set number of pages, "you may omit the title page and put contact information in your cover letter (email) or on the submission form." Our guide to how to query a literary agent covers what goes in that email.

Do I send .docx or PDF?

Default to .docx. Chicago's post says "Microsoft Word is the document format usually required by agents and editors. Some will accept a PDF."

Some agents take sample pages through a submission website or in the body of an email. Chicago warns that this can strip your formatting: "italics and paragraph indents may disappear." Fix what you can; the agent knows the form's limits.

Whose guidelines win?

The recipient's. Chicago's post says agents' and editors' own submission advice "should override the guidelines offered here." If an agency wants Courier or a particular file name, do that. Standard format is for when nobody has said otherwise.

What does a formatted first page look like?

A hypothetical example, invented for this guide. A writer exports a romance novel as a .docx. Before formatting, the opening reads like this, in Word's default style:

Harbour Lights                        (Title style)
A bakery owner and a returning
sailor fight over a lighthouse.        (premise paragraph)

Chapter 1: The Lease                   (Heading 1)
Nell signs the lease and regrets it.   (chapter summary)
Morning at the Bakery                  (Heading 2, scene title)
The ovens were already warm when Nell opened the door...

After formatting, the title page:

Jane Example                              about 84,000 words
12 Sample Lane
Exampletown, EX1 2AB
jane@example.com
+44 0000 000000



                       HARBOUR LIGHTS

                       by Jane Example

And the first page of chapter one, page 1 of the manuscript:

                                     Example / Harbour Lights / 1




                          Chapter One

The ovens were already warm when Nell opened the door, which
meant her grandmother had been in again, which meant trouble.

     She set her keys on the counter and listened. Nothing upstairs.

                              #

     By noon the sailor was back, standing in the doorway...

The premise, summary and scene title are gone, the first paragraph is flush left, and the second scene opens after a centred #. (The real file is double spaced throughout.)

How do I get my draft out of StoryWith AI and into this format?

StoryWith AI exports Markdown, plain text, DOCX and PDF on every plan. Neither the DOCX nor the PDF is standard manuscript format.

The DOCX contains the book title as a Title paragraph, the book's premise (if you set one) under it, each chapter as a Heading 1 reading "Chapter N: title", any chapter summary you wrote under its heading, and each scene title as a Heading 2. Then comes your prose, with paragraphs, bold and italics kept. It sets no page header, no page numbers, no word count, no double spacing and no first-line indents, so Word's default styles apply.

The PDF uses Times Roman at 11 point, 1.4 line spacing and 1 inch margins, with no running header. It is a reading copy for you or a beta reader, not a submission file.

To turn the DOCX into a submission file:

1. Delete the premise paragraph under the title.
2. Delete every chapter summary.
3. Delete each scene title. Where a scene follows another scene in the same chapter, type a centred # in its place.
4. Restyle the Heading 1 chapter titles: 12 point, black, centred, page break before. Rename them if you prefer "Chapter One" to "Chapter 1: The Lease".
5. Replace the Title paragraph with a proper title page.
6. Apply the Word steps above, then take the word count from Word's status bar and round it.

Our walkthrough of exporting a manuscript to DOCX covers the export itself.

Where StoryWith AI fits

StoryWith AI is the wrong tool for formatting a submission. Use Word, or the agent's own template.

It helps earlier, at line level. On the Write page it measures the open scene in your browser, with no AI model, so the checks use no AI actions and are not limited to a paid plan. It flags possible passive voice, weak verbs, adverb-heavy passages, sentences over 35 words, repeated sentence openings and monotonous sentence length, and clicking a flag jumps to the passage.

The checks are patterns, not a grammar parser: the passive check flags "was tired" and misses "was told", and four of the checks (passive voice, weak verbs, adverbs and repeated openings) run for English only. Manuscripts are not used to train AI models. StoryWith AI runs on the web and Android, not iOS; plan details are on the pricing page.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is standard manuscript format for a novel?

It is 12 point Times New Roman or Courier, double spaced, with 1 inch margins, a 0.5 inch first-line indent and no space between paragraphs. A separate title page carries contact details, a rounded word count, title and byline. Later pages have a surname, title and page number header, and chapters start on new pages.

Is Courier still required?

No. Courier is the classic convention and still accepted, but most of the guides we read default to Times New Roman, and Chicago's Shop Talk says it is the font agents most often specify. Use Courier when a market asks for it.

How do I write the word count on a manuscript?

Take the count from your word processor and round it: Shunn and Scribophile say to the nearest hundred, Kindlepreneur to the nearest thousand. Put it top right on the title page, or under your contact details.

Should I use # or *** for scene breaks?

Either. Scribophile recommends a centred #, and Kindlepreneur lists centred asterisks or hashes. Centre the marker on its own line and use it consistently. Avoid a plain blank line, which vanishes at a page break.

Should I send my manuscript as .docx or PDF?

Send .docx unless told otherwise. Chicago's Shop Talk says Word is the format agents and editors usually require, and some accept PDF. Some want sample pages pasted into a form or email, so check each agency's submission page first.