Another question about writing

[rsine69]

Do all the lines (except for dialog lines) have to be the same length (I'm not talking about word count on each line)? For instance, As you know I'm using M.S. Wordpad and when there's a word that's too big to fit at the end of a line, it automatically drops down and starts the next line. When formatting, will I have to keep the lines the same length by splitting the words that are too big to fit at the end of each line with a hyphen? That's gonna be a pain if I have to go through everything to make those changes.

[rsine69]

I should also point out that it sometimes does this with words that are only two letters in length. If it won't fit at the end of the first line than it automatically drops down to the next line. It feels silly having to split up a two letter word with a hyphen.

[Mini Mia]

If you have one inch margins set up on the left and right sides, I'd let the words drop down onto the next line. There's no rule you can't have a one word line. I don't hyphenate words, but I believe the publishers will do that when they set it up for print. I see it in books all the time. I'm sure they do that to fill up the lines and save on paper.

But as far as the author having to hyphenate words, I've not seen any rules to that effect in any of the books on writing/formatting I've read, or from any of the authors & writer websites I visit. So do whichever you prefer.

[rsine69]

Thanks. That's a load off my mind because as you said, I see it in books all the time.

[Mini Mia]

You're very welcome. I actually hate it in books, but if hyphenating saves on paper and helps keep the price low, good on them.