How to use word to write a book

If you want to write a book, you’ll need book writing software that’s up to the task. Yes, you can invest in dedicated book writing programs. But you don’t have to: a great writing tool is likely already at your fingertips, if you know how to write a book using Microsoft Word.

There’s a lot of book writing software out there. Many of these programs claim to offer intuitive use, help with organization, and even say they’ll keep you from distraction. The options can be overwhelming.

There’s still one tried and true option if you’re not interested in all that (or can’t afford the fancier programs): Microsoft Word.

I write most of my books in Microsoft Word, not to mention short stories. Here’s the rundown of how to write a book using Microsoft Word, and why that might be your best choice.

The Benefits of Microsoft Word for Book Writing

You most likely already have it. And so does everybody else. Word is the standard, accepted across platforms, and is easy to access for non-writers (your beta readers). It’s been around forever, so most people know how to use it.

There are book formatting templates. A ton of them. They have them for short story format and for manuscript format. Personally, I don’t use those templates, but they’re a nice baseline for beginners, or even old hats that just want to hurry up and write without setting up their document first.

It’s simple and uncluttered. There are a ton of apps and programs out there that will allow you to keep your plot structure notes close at hand, to rearrange your chapters with the click of a button, and to keep detailed character profiles right in the program. That’s all a little too much for me. I prefer handwritten notes and nothing else blocking my screen while I’m typing and Word gives me that.

It is worth noting that if all that sounds appealing to you, you can do those things in Word as well, it just won’t be as fancy as other programs.

Hey writer: the first step to writing a book is coming up with a great idea. The second step is figuring out the structure of your book. If you have an idea but you need help with the structure, check out our new book The Write Structure. In it, we’ll teach you how to apply timeless story structure principles to write a great book. Get The Write Structure »

How to Navigate Your Book in Microsoft Word

When you have a 90,000-word manuscript, navigating becomes daunting. Luckily there are ways to do it in Word that make it easier if you know where to look.

Chapter Headings

Word doesn’t divide your book into chapters for you like some other programs. There will be no easy way to click and drag to rearrange chapters.

What I recommend is using headings. On Word’s Home page, there are already standard headings listed. Definitely mess with them and change their formatting to something simple.

No one needs giant blue words as their chapter headings. (You can set your simpler formatting as your default style as well, so you don’t have to change it every time.)

Make the title or number of each chapter a heading. Then you can easily bounce around to different chapters through the navigation pane (check the Navigation Pane box under the View menu).

Bookmarks

These basically work the same way as headings, but they’re for anywhere in your document. Have a specific scene you need to do more research on? You can bookmark it and jump back to it later.

Bookmark by going to the Insert menu and clicking Bookmark. Name your bookmark and voilà. You can delete them easily from the popup menu as well.

Find and Replace

CTRL+F brings up a simple search option to find words and phrases in your document. CTRL+H brings up the full gambit. From that dialogue box, you can search, replace certain words with others (i.e. Jennifer now becomes Julia all through the manuscript), and go to any page, section, heading, bookmark, etc. that you need to go to.

Microsoft Word is Great for Editing Your Book

Word has a ton of options for editing your story, including comments, tracking changes, and comparing documents. All of these are under the Review menu.

I use the comments feature to make notes to myself where I need to recheck facts or add description later. It’s easy to navigate through the comments with the search feature or the buttons under the Review menu. Don’t forget to remove them all before saving your document as a PDF or sending it off to an editor.

Tracking changes is awesome and a lot of editors (for short stories anyway) will use this feature to collaborate with you during the editing process. You can accept or reject changes or even revert back to the original.

Finally, make sure you have grammar and spellcheck on! Grammar check even allows you to check style issues (like how to use an ellipsis correctly) and passive voice. It’s invaluable.

Pro tip: To keep you on track while you’re writing, turn off some of the more fine-tuning features of grammar check. There’s nothing that will ruin your flow more than a bunch of underlining you feel like you need to take care of immediately. I recommend running the full check when you’re done (or at least done for the day).

Formatting Your Book in Microsoft Word

Make sure you’re familiar with standard manuscript format for novels and formatting short stories. Take a look at those links and follow their instructions. You don’t want to get rejected out of hand because you tried some weird formatting that’s hard to look at.

One of the biggest gripes I see from editors is writers using spaces to indent paragraphs. Don’t do this. It makes it super hard on them when they’re putting a book together. Instead, use the ruler in Word (under the View menu) or the paragraph settings (under the Home menu) to adjust your tabs. A half inch is standard.

Despite what most of us were taught in school, the standard is now one space after periods, not two. This is another sticking point with editors, so don’t do it. If you’re used to two, there’s a grammar check feature in Word you can turn on to highlight every time you use two spaces.

Finally, use the page break option to break for a new chapter, not enter or a million spaces. You can find the page break under the Insert menu.

Pro tip: When in doubt about your formatting, you can turn on the Show/Hide option under the Home menu (looks like a paragraph symbol) to see all your formatting symbols.

Now That You’ve Mastered Microsoft Word, Go Write Your Book

Don’t let choosing writing software stagnant your writing. Don’t overthink it. You don’t need to keep up with the Joneses with the latest writing technology that’s trotted out on tech forums and in writing chats.

The important thing about writing a book is actually writing it. No fancy book writing software is going to help you with that.

So get writing!

Ever used Word to write a book? Do you have any more tips for how to write a book using Word? Let me know in the comments!

Can you use Microsoft Word to write a book?

Microsoft Word comes with pre-built page settings for creating books. Whether you’re creating a memoir or event guide, these settings let you create a beautiful book or booklet, from start to finish.

Is word good for writing novels?

Microsoft Word happens to be the most used and popular word processor. You can use it as your book writing app as it offers you everything you need to write an amazing book. It is a simple, popular, and feature-rich word processor that comes as a default writing tool in Microsoft Windows.

How do you write a book in your own words?

How to Write a Book in 15 Amazingly Simple Steps

1. Find your “big idea” The one thing you absolutely need to write a book is, of course, an idea.
2. Research your genre.
3. Create an outline.
4. Start off strong.
5. Focus on substance.
6. Write “reader-first”
7. Set word count goals.
8. Establish a healthy routine.

How do I write my first book?

Here’s a rough plan of how to write your first book, step-by-step:

1. Write the first draft. Once you’ve figured out your book idea, the hardest thing is to just start writing.
2. Commit to a rewrite.
3. Get feedback.
4. Publish your novel.
5. Market your novel.

What is the best format for writing a book?

How To Format Your Book: Tips for Nailing Your Book Format

• Use black, 12-point, Times New Roman as the font.
• Use the U.S. standard page size of 8.5×11 inches and set your margins to 1 inch on all sides.
• Set alignment to left justified.
• Use a single space after periods.
• Use double-spaced line spacing.

What app do you use to write a book?

Here are seven writing apps designed specifically for creative writing, with various organizational tools to take your work to the next level.

• Reedsy Book Editor. Price: Free.
• Scrivener. Price: Free trial for 30 days, $45 license fee.
• Ulysses.
• iA Writer.
• yWriter.
• Storyist.
• Final Draft.
• Grammarly.

What app do writers use to write?

15 Book Writing Software Programs That Can Make Your Life Easier

• Scrivener. Scrivener is the ultimate book-organization tool.
• Google Docs. Google Docs is a great collaborative tool.
• Freedom.
• ProWritingAid.
• Grammarly.
• Novel Factory.
• Hemingway Editor.
• Evernote.

What do professional writers use to write?

Best Book Writing Software (2021 Guide For Authors)

• Microsoft Word – Word Processor, $79.99.
• Scrivener – Word Processor, $45.
• Pages – Word Processor, $28.
• Freedom – Productivity Software, $2.42/month.
• Google Docs – Online Word Processor, Free.
• Evernote – Note-Taking Software, Free.
• FocusWriter – Word Processor, Free.

How do I start writing for beginners?

5 Writing Tips for Beginners

1. Enrich Your Vocabulary by Reading Great Books.
2. Never Stop Learning About Writing.
3. Practice Writing as Much as You Can.
4. Research and Give Credit Where It’s Due.
5. Use Online Tools to Check Your Grammar and Originality.
6. About the Author.

Can anyone write a book?

Anyone can write a book. It might be bad or be incomprehensible, but so what: it’s still a book and many published authors haven’t done any better.I like this though: it means anyone who puts in enough time can actually write well. Some of our best writing comes from ordinary people from all walks of life.

Where do I start when writing a book?

This is how you can start writing a book today:

• Start by setting up your writing environment.
• Develop a writing habit to start.
• Create a book outline to start writing.
• Focus on writing your book ONLY.
• Maintain your focus at the start.
• Schedule book writing time.
• Deal with writing distractions.
• Start writing your book!

What to Know Before writing a book?

Before you start writing a novel…

• Nail down the story idea. An obvious step, but not an easy one to cross off.
• Read books in your genre.
• Choose your book’s point of view.
• Establish the setting.
• Develop your main characters.
• Establish the conflict and stakes.
• Create an outline.
• Choose your story structure.

How many chapter should a book have?

Most novels have between 10 to 12 chapters, but that’s not set in stone. You can have two chapters or 200 — it all depends on how comfortable you are with experimenting. Consider your dear reader.

How long should my first book be?

If you’re writing your first novel, the general rule of thumb for novel writing is a word count in the 80,000 to 100,000 range. While anything over 40,000 words can fall into the novel category, 50,000 is considered the minimum novel length.

What font do publishers prefer?

Font: Your font should generally be 12 point Times New Roman. Though some agents and editors may prefer different serif or sans serif fonts like Arial or Courier New, Times New Roman with a 12 point font size is the industry standard.

How many pages should be in a book?

When wondering how many pages a book should be, it is notable that the average book length is between 200-400 pages.

Is there a template for writing a book?

Book writing templates are most useful for new writers who are still wrapping their head around the whole idea of writing a book. A template will give them the structure so all they have to do is let the creativity flow.

Is there a free app for writing a book?

Scrivener (Free Trial) MS Notepad and Mac TextEdit. Hemingway Editor. Portent’s Idea Generator.

Can I write a book on my phone?

On an Android phone, download a notepad app. Configure your phone to email or upload your text document to your email account or cloud storage. One way I do is simply to dictate the words into a voice recorder and, when back on the desktop computer, transcribe into the favourite wordprocessor.

How long does it take to write a book?

How long does it take to write a book on average? The average time to write a book for most authors is 180 days, or 6 months, more or less. Usually, it takes authors anywhere from 4-8 months to complete a book. However, you can definitely write a book faster than that!

Create a booklet or book

1. Go to Layout and select the Page Setup dialog launch icon at the bottom-right corner.

   

2. On the Margins tab, change the setting for Multiple pages to Book fold. The orientation automatically changes to Landscape.

   

   Tip: If you have a long document, you might want to split it into multiple booklets, which you can then bind into one book. Under Sheets per booklet, choose how many pages to print per booklet.

3. Select and increase the value of Gutter to reserve space on the inside fold for binding.

4. Go to the Paper tab and select the Paper size. The final size of the booklet is one half width of the paper size.

   

   Tip: You can add many embellishments to your booklet’s appearance. For example, to add borders to every page, on the Layout tab of the Page Setup window, click Borders.

5. Click OK. If your document already has content, the text is formatted automatically, but you might need to adjust objects like images and tables manually.

Print settings for booklets

When you print the booklet, check the print settings to make sure you print on both sides of the paper and flip the papers correctly for the printing to work as intended.

1. Go to File > Print.

2. If your printer supports automatic printing on both sides, change Print One Sidedto Print on Both Sides. Choose the option Flip pages on short edge to avoid printing the second side of each sheet upside down.

   

3. If your printer doesn’t support automatic printing on both sides, select Manually Print on Both Sides, and feed the pages back to the printer when prompted. To avoid pages from printing upside down, flip the sheets on the short edge of the paper according to your printer’s instructions.

   Tip: For a professional touch, consider adding page numbers in the header or the footer. For more info, see Add page numbers.

See Also

Create a booklet using a Word template

Booklet: Page numbering tips.

Create different headers or footers for odd and even pages

Get Microsoft publishing templates

Create a booklet or book

1. Go to Layout > Margins > Custom Margins.

2. Change the setting for Multiple pages to Book fold. The orientation automatically changes to Landscape.

   Tip: If you have a long document, you might want to split it into multiple booklets, which you can then bind into one book. Under Sheets per booklet, choose how many pages to print per booklet.

3. To reserve space on the inside fold for binding, increase the width of the Gutter.

4. You can add many embellishments to your booklet’s appearance. For example, to add borders to every page, on the Layout tab of the Custom Margins window, select Borders.

5. Select OK.

   If your document already has content, the text is formatted automatically, but you might need to adjust objects like images and tables manually.

6. Go to File > Page Setup and check the paper size. Keep in mind that the final size of the booklet is one half of the paper size. Make sure your printer is stocked with paper of the right size.

Print settings for booklets

When you print the booklet, check the print settings to make sure you print on both sides of the paper and flip the papers correctly for the printing to work as intended. If your printer supports automatic printing on both sides, follow these steps.

1. Click File > Print.

2. Under Two-sided, select Booklet.

   Tip: For a professional touch, consider adding page numbers in the header or the footer. For more info, see Add page numbers.

Note: If your printer doesn’t support automatic printing on both sides, you’ll need to print each page manually.

See Also

Create a booklet using a Word template

Booklet: Page numbering tips.

Create different headers or footers for odd and even pages

Get Microsoft publishing templates

Microsoft Word has been a go-to tool for authors for nearly forty years. Not only is it the industry standard for editors and agents, but it can also be used to format your book (although I wouldn’t advise it).

And since most people already have Word on their computers, it’s often the first stop on the book-writing journey. So read on as we explore how to write a book using Microsoft Word.

As you’ll see in this article, Word is adequate for writing books. But for indie authors, it’s certainly not the best tool. Even after you write your book in Word, you’ll need to format it before you sell any copies. And formatting requires either a separate tool or a professional (and expensive) formatter. 

This is why we created Atticus as a better alternative to Word and other basic tools like it. Atticus is a word-processor, formatter, simple design tool, and a goal-tracker all at once. It’s a powerful but easy-to-use tool that can allow you to see how your finished book will look as you write it! These are just a few of the features Atticus offers. Plus, we’re working on a ton of new features like collaboration and editing that will be out soon. 

There’s no subscription. Just a one-time price that includes all future updates. 

If you want to see Atticus in action, check out this article. And if you want to see how to write a book using Word, keep on reading! 

Pros and Cons of Writing With Word

There are a lot of word processors out there designed for book-writing. With all these options, how does Word measure up? Well, there are some definite pros and cons that will help you decide. 

Pros

• Often included with your computer.
• Plenty of options for a tailored writing experience.
• Provides an auto-save function you can use.
• Has a good grammar and spelling tool included.
• Track Changes is used by most editors.

Cons

• Expensive if you have to buy it.
• Can be distracting with all the options. 
• Not ideal for ebook or print book formatting.
• Long documents can get cumbersome. 

Video: How to Write a Book in Word

For a nice summary of this article, along with a few of my own personal thoughts on the subject, be sure to check out this video on how to write a book in Microsoft Word.

Want more videos like this? Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly videos!

The Basics of Book Writing in Word

MS Word has a ton of features. This is good because it gives you options, allowing you to choose how best to build your writing experience. But there’s such a thing as too many options, and it’s easy to get bogged down in them.

Luckily, you don’t need to familiarize yourself with many Word features to get started. In fact, you can get by just fine with the basics.

For those who crave a simple, uncluttered writing process, the basics will be more than enough.

Font Size and Style

When you open a new Word document, you’ll see a default font style and size on the Home tab. Usually, this is Calibri or Times New Roman for the style, and 11 for the font size. Feel free to change these. Times New Roman and 12-point font are the widely accepted standard manuscript format. 

If you are querying a literary agent or sending the document to an editor, they may have their submission guidelines, so remember to check.

If you’re going to self-publish (and you totally should), then simply choose a font size and style that you like. You’ll likely change it during formatting, anyway.

Chapter Headings

You’ll want a way to navigate easily through your document when the word count gets high. To do this, use the Styles option on the Home toolbar in Word.

You can highlight your chapter heading or number, which will bring up a toolbar with the Styles option in it. Or you can simply place your cursor in or next to your heading and then select the Styles option from the toolbar near the top of your screen.

I’d suggest using the Header 1 option for chapter headings. This way, you can use Header 2 for subheadings or scene breaks.

You can also pick “Create a Style” and make your own headings, using a color and font of your choice if you don’t like the defaults. But since you’ll likely end up changing the chapter styles later anyway, it’s not necessary.

Navigation

Once you start using Headings, you’ll want to activate the Navigation Pane so you can click around your book easily. When you’re working on a long document, this is a massive time-saver.

To do this, click on the View tab from the top toolbar. Just left of center, you’ll see an option that says “Navigation Pane Show.” Simply click the box. If you don’t have any headings yet, they’ll automatically populate there once you do.

If you don’t want to have the Navigation Pane up while you write, simply click it off and click it back on whenever you want to use it!

Find and Replace

Using the Find or Find and Replace feature in Microsoft Word can make your life easier when editing or trying to remember what color a certain character’s eyes were. (If you’re not using character profiles, that is.)

On the Home toolbar, you’ll see the Editing feature next to the Styles feature. Click on this to use the Find or Find and Replace tool, depending on what you need.

Word Count

If you’re writing to meet daily goals (which you totally should!), then it’s important to know your word count. Luckily, Word makes this easy by automatically displaying the word count at the bottom left corner of the window. (It displays the page number, as well.)

If you want to know how many words are in a certain section, you can highlight that section, and the program will automatically count them and display them in the bottom left corner. Easy!

That’s it for the basics! Using those four basic tools, you’ll be able to write your book in Word. But what if you’re a plotter or you want to get a jump on formatting? Or maybe you just want to know about some other features you can use. Well, read on for some advanced tips!

(If you’re writing a book for something like National Novel Writing Month, I’d stick with the basics above. NaNoWriMo is all about getting the words down. You can worry about prettying them up later!)

Advanced Word Book Writing

MS Word is a word processor. It’s a powerful one, but it’s still mainly a word processor. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t do other things with it, like format for submission to a publishing house. You can.

But if you’re mainly concerned with formatting your manuscript for submission to traditional publishing channels, check out our in-depth article on manuscript formatting. In it, we cover things like title page creation, margins, and headers and footers.

If you want to know a bit more about Microsoft Word features that can help you write your book, read on!

Page Break

When ending a chapter, it’s a good idea to use the Page Break feature instead of hitting enter a bunch of times to get to the next page.

To do this, click on the Insert tab on the top toolbar. On the very left-hand side of the bar, you’ll see the Page Break option at the bottom. Just make sure your cursor is beyond the last character at the end of the chapter!

Using a Template

There are plenty of templates you can use with your Microsoft Word document. When you first open the word processor, you’ll see some Word templates offered next to the basic Blank Document option. You’ll also see a More Templates option so you can search for a specific type of Word template.

Most of these aren’t great for books, although you can likely find one or two with most (if not all) of the standard manuscript formatting in place. But if you’re making a booklet or you know there’s a book template available online, feel free to use them.

Just be aware that your Word document will probably still require you to use a book formatting software if you want a professional-looking book for self-publishing.

The Layout Tab

The default page size in Word is 8.5 by 11 inches. Most books are much smaller than this. So if you want to change your document to reflect the smaller page size, you can do so in the Layout Tab.

This is also the place to change your margins with the Margins tab located in the Page Setup section. You’ll also see options to change the paragraph indents and spacing if you want.

Editing Your Word Document

Word has a built-in spelling and grammar checker under the Review tab. It’s a good idea to do at least one pass with this. You can also access the Editor at the right side of the Home tab. It’s also worth doing another pass with a proofreading tool like ProWritingAid, Grammarly, or one of the many other options available.

The Review tab has a lot of useful stuff for editing. You can use the Read Aloud feature to help you find awkward sentences or minor mistakes you didn’t see on other editing passes. After sending your polished manuscript off to an editor (every writer should hire an editor!) you’ll likely use the Review tab to accept or decline changes made to the document.

Should You Use Word for Book Writing?

If you’re planning on self-publishing your book, Word is an adequate option. But if you want to make things (a lot) easier, we recommend using a writing tool that’s designed for writing books.

As mentioned above, we recommend Atticus. It is an all-in-one writing and formatting software made by yours truly with help from some truly awesome developers. With Atticus, you don’t have to worry about setting margins or page size — or even font type. This is all stuff that you can do with a few clicks of the mouse when you’re ready to export your finished product.

It includes a bunch of templates that will automatically format your book with the click of a button. And you can export it as a PDF file, a DOCX document for use in Word, or the industry-standard EPUB file for selling your book through online retailers.

Essentially, it’s like Word but without all the unneeded options — and a bunch of other options that you’ll actually use! It’s easy to use and makes everything from writing and editing to formatting and exporting a breeze.

But we know Atticus might not be ideal for everyone. You can check out our article on the best book writing software here for more options.

Conclusion

If you’re writing a blog post or a short story for online publication, Microsoft Word is a pretty great option. But things start to get a little unwieldy when you’re working on a long document. Plus, you’ll need to use a book formatting software for a professionally formatted book.

But if Word is what you’re comfortable with and you just want to get the words on the page, why wait!? Use the basics above and get to writing today!