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Sunday, December 4, 2016

A Tip Using Microsoft Word Styles and Autogenerated Table of Contents to Help with Your Plot Review

I'm currently working on Book One of my first fiction series. And belatedly (I'm at 68,542 WC of an estimated 80K WC novel), I've added in subhead notations (for me only) at each chapter and time break (in other words, for each scene). A new scene or three had interrupted my previous order.

And, if you're like me, rereading my draft (word for word, starting at p. 1 onward) has me copyediting (dealing with grammar and spelling issues), not focusing on plot continuity.

So I'm using Header 1 of Word's Styles for my chapter headings (CHs) and Header 2 for my subheadings (Subs). Plus these Styles help in creating a Word-generated Table of Contents. Better to read four or five pages of my TOC (as a story overview) instead of the 275 pages currently making up my MS (as a detailed mechanics view).

I interrupted myself to do a sample cover, but I easily talked myself into starting my scan of those 275 double-spaced pages to come up with scene descriptions, knowing this will help me greatly and save me tons of time. Once scene labeling is done, I can read my TOC, locating what sections to move to where, plus seeing where my plot goes awry or where I've got too many things going on in one day or have forgotten another day or have too much emphasis on one major POV than the other one.

Hope this helps someone out there too. Have a good week, everyone.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)



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