I find it’s easiest to start at the beginning of your document and work your way to the end. But there may be some pages where you don’t want any of the new modifications showing up. I’ll go over the most common ones, how to fix them, and how they’re typically formatted.
Table of Contents
Highlight the page’s contents, then right-click and select ‘Paragraph’ twice.
When the box opens, use the tabs to reach the section you’d like to adjust.
For the ToC, you’ll only need the ‘Indents & Spacing’ tab. Change the ‘First Line’ indent back to 0.00.” Your ToC doesn’t need to be indented. Next, change the ‘Line Spacing’ back to ‘Single.’ A long ToC benefits most from that adjustment. Then, click ‘Ok.’
Changes made in this manner won’t affect the ‘Default Paragraph Style’ applied to the rest of your document—only the section you’ve highlighted.
Copyright / Legal Page
Use the steps I listed above to reach the ‘Paragraph’ box where you can select the tabs. Under ‘Indents & Spacing,’ change the ‘First Line’ indent back to 0.00.” Select ‘Single’ from the drop-down menu for ‘Line Spacing.’ Under the ‘Alignment’ tab, choose ‘Center.’ Lastly, click ‘Ok.’
Dedication Page
Not everyone has a dedication page, but if so, the text is usually centered and in italics. If you have a quote or poem on this page instead, you may only want to center it. Use the steps above to adjust your text to center by removing the ‘First Line’ indent, then choosing ‘Center’ under the ‘Alignment’ tab. Click ‘Ok’
You’ll notice there isn’t a ‘Font’ tab for the Paragraph box. To make your text italics, you’ll have to use the direct formatting icon on your main toolbar at the top of your screen. You can also use the ‘enter’ key to move the text down the page if you want.
You can adjust your back matter pages in the same way. Now, let’s move on to the fun part.
Applying Paragraph Styles
To begin applying the styles you’ve created, go to the first page you’d like to work on and highlight the entire word or phrase to be altered. Ex: Book Title.
You can use the styles drop-down menu on your main toolbar at the top of your screen to select the style you’d like to apply.
Or double-click on the style listed in the Styles Menu.
If you’ve created a ‘Chapter Title,’ ‘Chapter Subtitle,’ and ‘First Paragraph,’ it’s more efficient to apply these all at once before moving on to the next chapter. It also gives you a better idea of how well they look together.
You can make adjustments to your styles by right-clicking on them in the Styles Menu and choosing ‘Modify.’ Maybe once you’ve applied them, you decide you don’t like the fonts or the size.
Glitch Warning: Sometimes, the ‘Default Paragraph Style’ may automatically apply the 0.30″ indent and 1.5 Line Spacing to your titles and headings. If that happens, use the ‘Modify’ feature to set them straight again.
Take time to adjust everything to your liking, so the changes will already be in effect when you need to apply the same style again. Just don’t forget to click ‘Apply’ and ‘Ok’ when finished making those adjustments.
After you’ve applied all your styles and are happy with how everything looks, it’s time to move on to the next step.
A.C. Melody 