Writing Focus: Formatting

Formatting is perhaps one of the most important technical aspects of writing. Without formatting, our favourite books would be blocks upon blocks of text – very difficult on the eye when trying to read! This week’s Writing Focus is all about formatting and how stories on Mibba should be formatted!

What is Formatting?

Formatting refers to the way your work is set out on the page. Typically, every single piece you write will be split up into paragraphs and sentences. These allow the reader to skim the page easily without being met by a wall of text. Having your writing split into paragraphs allows the reader to split the work into several sections and can make it easier to decipher and process information contained within those paragraphs.

Here on Mibba, we use block formatting. This means that your work should be split into paragraphs and blank lines should be left between paragraphs and between separate lines of dialogue. Equally, all of your work should not be formatted with bold text, underlined or italicised. It is acceptable to have certain aspects of your work italicised or emboldened, for example in a flashback or memory, but think of your readers. No one wants to read a whole chapter that’s completely bold and difficult to read!

Tips

Formatting is extremely easy to get the hang of. Separate paragraphs tend to have different themes, so if you’re writing about Suzie waking up and then her at the shops, write about Suzie’s wake-up routine in one paragraph, her journey to the shops in another and her activities within the shop in a third paragraph. Leave a blank space between each paragraph. This is easily done by hitting your enter key twice.

With dialogue, make sure that each piece of dialogue is kept on a different line. If Suzie talks to Ronan when shopping, have Suzie’s dialogue on one line, followed by a blank line and then Ronan’s dialogue. If you’re following dialogue with a paragraph, leave a blank line between the dialogue and the paragraph. Simple, right?

Prompts

Looking to brush up on your formatting? Take a look at these prompts that are designed to help!

1. Your character is watching the circus. Using correct formatting, describe several separate elements of the circus in great detail.
2. Write a piece without using correct formatting and once you’ve completed it, read it through again whilst inserting the appropriate formatting where it is needed.
3. Write a short story where each paragraph is exactly 50 words long.

Stories

How do Mibbians deal with formatting in their stories? Check out the following pieces that use formatting correctly to get some ideas!

Love Just Is is a Harry Styles fanfiction where a small tumble starts the rollercoaster of a lifetime for Maddie Emerson. The technical accuracy of the formatting coupled with the simplistic layout makes this story extremely easy on the eyes!

Another story that exhibits excellent formatting is Emergency. This story about a school psychologist uses a mix of long and short paragraphs to keep the reader interested and reading on!

Formatting is one of the more technical (and perhaps boring!) aspects of writing, but is a skill that will become necessary if you are looking to gain readers and improve your writing skills. Why not take the time to check all of your stories are correctly formatted? Not only will it improve your reader count, it will keep your writing fresh and readable!

Special thanks to Goddess_Of_Mischief and Airi. for editing!