Getting your text into the best possible shape before you send it to an editor or proofreader can save you money, because it saves them time. If you’re using Microsoft Word, you can eliminate the issues covered in this post quickly and easily, once you’ve got the hang of a few tricks. I’ll start by covering each problem, and then share some tips to deal with them.

Spaces

Extra spaces are easily typed by accident, so they’re worth looking out for. Double (or triple) spaces are the most common issue, but they’re good at hiding before or after a carriage return (¶) too.

Nonbreaking spaces

These little beasties can appear sometimes, especially if you transfer a document from one program to another (e.g. Scrivener/Google Docs/Apple Pages to Word). They look like small circles when you show formatting marks.

They keep two or more words on the same line, which can be useful for things like measurements (e.g. 150 ml). However, if you didn’t intend for them to be there, it’s best to delete them due to potential line spacing issues.

What if I want double spaces?

In the days of typewriters, it was normal to put two spaces after a sentence, and some people still insist on doing so. However, styles have changed, and both the New Oxford Style Manual (section 2.5.1) and The Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition, section 2.9) recommend a single space. This is worth bearing in mind, especially as it makes finding and replacing all incorrect instances much easier and quicker. (Replace All can be magic when used carefully!)

Carriage Returns

Do you use lots of carriage returns (¶) to get to a new page? Don’t be afraid to admit it, but do start using page breaks instead. Doing this and squashing those extra returns will prevent some nasty surprises when you come to format your document for publication. (The number of pages will likely change, and that would mean you’d get large sections of blank space in unexpected places.)

Soft Returns

These look like bent arrows, and can cause some interesting formatting issues when they’ve been added accidentally. (See the word spacing in the image below.) If you haven’t added them deliberately and for a good reason, replacing them with normal carriage returns will be best.

Tabs

→ Tabs look like straight arrows, and some people use them to indent paragraphs. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do things! Using your word processor’s styles feature to automatically create indents is much better, especially when it comes to exporting your document for formatting.

Ellipses

Rogue Straight Quotes

These love to creep in. I’ve occasionally found Word adding them as I’ve been typing, even if I’ve specified curly quotes. There are some cases where you want straight ones regardless – they can be essential for some computer coding, for example – but with a lot of fiction you’ll just want everything to be consistent.

Tricks for Finding Issues

Sub WildcardToggle()
'Toggles wildcard searches on or off.
'Also shows whether they're on or off
'in the status bar at the bottom left of the screen.

Selection.Find.MatchWildcards = Not Selection.Find.MatchWildcards

  If Selection.Find.MatchWildcards = True Then
    StatusBar = "Wildcards on"
    Else
    StatusBar = "Wildcards off"
  End If
  
End Sub

Microsoft Word Search Codes

Except where marked, everything should work on for PCs and Macs. Remember to switch your wildcards on! Whenever you need to type a space, I’ll type SPACE so it’s easy to see. (E.g. if I typed SPACESPACE, you’d need to hit the space bar twice in your find/replace box.)

Important! When using wildcards, use ^13 in the find box to find carriage returns (¶). Only ever use ^p for carriage returns in the replace box, as ^13 can cause formatting issues for some reason. It’s a very good idea to save and back up your work before making any changes in any case.

• Nonbreaking spaces: ^s
• Soft returns: ^l
• Spaces before paragraph marks: SPACE{1,}^13
  • Replace: ^p
• Spaces at beginnings of lines: ^13SPACE{1,}
• (At least) double spaces: SPACE{2,}
• Tabs: ^t
• (At least) double paragraphs: ^13{2,}

Need any help with a specific find/replace? Want to share a find/replace you couldn’t do without? Email philridgers@gmail.com or comment below!