GJW9 Prep

Formatting

::bow::

Clanmates,

One of the greatest opportunities in the forthcoming Great Jedi War will be in collecting points in the area of fiction. To aid members on this front, we have Vivackus and his team working tirelessly to assist with the simpler things: spelling, grammar, continuity, realism. They cannot rewrite your entries for you, but they can give lots of pointers.

There is one art, however, that is timeless and will improve your entry by a half grade... if not more. It is the lost art of formatting. The content is important, but the manner in which you present it can make or break you. And, as such, I am going to give some pointers. So listen up...

Leading

More commonly known as 'spacing' in a document is the vertical (up and down) space between lines. Normally, we default to single-spacing and go with the status quo; however, this is not the best solution. This is true, especially, if you are a long-winded writer... meaning you use long paragraphs to convey ideas. I recommend that - for this war - you adjust your word processor to either double-spacing or 1.5 (one and a half; slightly short of double). This will present a cleaner text that is easier for a judge to read.

Indentation

When you complete one idea (normally a paragraph) and move into the next one, you will indent your next paragraph. In conjunction with your newfound double (or 1.5) spacing, you will no longer hit 'Enter' twice to separate paragraphs. Instead, you will now indent each new paragraph (except for the first one of a chapter/story).

Font

Refrain from going to unknown or obscure fonts that are not legible. While the font may 'express your creativity,' if the Judge has to wonder what you wrote... it does very little for the overall score. So stick to the standard fonts. I recommend Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana. These are legible type fonts and well within reasonable standards.

Size

This is a game of give-and-take. If you are going to move into double-space or 1.5 spacing... I recommend limiting yourself to either twelve or ten. I prefer ten myself, but that is because I am not a concise writer and tend to easily fill pages with detail and erroneous detail. That, sometimes, takes away from my stories. Some Judges love it... others hate it. Long story short... ten or twelve point font... Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman font.

Breaks

Eventually, at some point, you will write a story that fragments into separate arcs or chapters. You will want to create definitive breaks in your fiction to change locations, characters or ideas. It is not uncommon for this to occur in a story... so here is my tip: be consistent. If you have ever read a story penned by my hand, you will know that I utilize stars to break chapters apart. Then, generally, I will list the new location for the next chapter and break into full story.

Title

Yes, you are submitting to competition "GJW Fiction Chapter 1," but that is not the title of your story. It is the 'event title' yet it is not the individual story's title. Be sure that every story you write has its own, unique title. You can pick a title and then write or write then pick a title... the choice is yours.

Example fiction...

I have attached one of my submissions to a Dark Brotherhood-wide competition, hosted by Tribune:Fiction Raken, called "Unredeemable." I ask that you look it over and take away some simple lessons from what I have discussed above.

Thank you for listening,

Braecen Kaeth

Consul of Clan Plagueis

Safeguarder of Sheep

Braecen Kaeth (Dark Side Adept) / CON-EP / Clan Plagueis

[GMRG: RG3-G] [KSoE:FE] [ACC: CE:3]

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