How to Format Your Manuscript for an Online Critique Group

Online critique groups for fiction writers often require submissions to be in plain text or to use certain HTML codes for formatting like italics or underlining. That prevents the manuscripts from appearing as gibberish on the various computer systems used by members, but it can add several tedious steps to the submission process.

Both Microsoft Word and the free OpenOffice.org Writer offer a search and replace function that can streamline the conversion. The programs also simplify adding a blank line between paragraphs, which makes the manuscript easier to read on screen.

Both programs provide an easy way to record macros for each conversion.

Before performing any search and replace, it is a good idea to make a backup copy of the manuscript.

Converting Italics or Underlining

Important Note: In this article, angle brackets are denoted by curly brackets. If the instructions say to type {u}, you should type a u enclosed within angle brackets.

In plain text, italics or underlining are usually denoted by surrounding the italicized or underlined text with underscores, _like this._ If your workshop allows HTML, you can use the underline tag, {u}like this,{/u} or the italics tag, {i}like this{/i}.

Microsoft Word provides a very simple way to change all your underlined or italicized text in one step:

To replace underline with _underline_ for a plain text file in Word:
1. From the Edit menu, select Replace to open the Find and Replace dialog. Select the Replace tab.
2. Click More.
3. Put the cursor in the Find what box. Click Format and select Font from the drop-down menu.
4. On the Font tab, select the underline style used in the manuscript, most likely the single underline. Click OK.
5. In the Replace with box, put _^&_.
6. Click Replace All.
7. Click OK. Click Close to close the dialog.
When you save the file in text format, the formerly underlined text will be _underscored_ instead.