Howard Mittelmark

Double-spaced; one-inch margins; do not print on both sides of the page.

The preferred font is 12-point Times New Roman. Do not use any unusual or interesting fonts; do not use colors other than black.

Number your pages sequentially; that is, do not start from one at the beginning of each chapter. Along with the page number, you should identify your manuscript by putting your last name, or the name of the novel, in the header.

Paragraphs should be indented. Don’t put an extra line space between paragraphs.

Do not bind or staple the manuscript. In movies, you’ll sometimes see manuscripts in a binder, or otherwise assembled into the form of a book, but that’s because the people who made the movie are used to screenplays. Screenplays are presented in a binder, but novels are never bound. A rubber band is helpful, though.

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No, of course you don’t. There is no board that certifies you a novelist, and nobody will check your credentials before you sit down and write.

However, if you want to write a novel well, there are some things that make it more likely.

Reading widely and deeply, in both popular fiction and classic literature. Writing as much as you can. Learning something about how your world works. Discussing what you’re reading and learning with other people who are excited about it. It helps if some of those people know a lot.

A really good place to do those things is college.

This is not to say that getting out in the world and having varied experiences and meeting strange and interesting people aren’t of value, but if you have the chance to focus on your reading and writing for a few years, you should take it.

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