Easy Aesthetic Formatting for Your Novel in Google Docs

[@nina-w]

as a graphic designer who loves writing - this is so important!!! some other google fonts i like for writing, besides georgia: * crimson text (my fave) * times (times new roman's cousin.) * buenard * newsreader

[@nina-w]

another tip - under "insert" you can also insert page numbers. super important especially if you choose to print out your manuscript to mark it up

[@theplottery]

@@nina-w ooh thanks for the suggestions! Ah i forgot about footers and headers too, but i usually only use those before printing

[@mistygleam2]

Thank you so much! You just saved my book feom cringing others

[@Datiwrites]

I use Scrivener to write and also Google Docs (I don’t believe in saving my work in one place) I am sooooo trying this to make my Google Docs cooler ❤️🥺

[@CatTubeVideosOfficial]

Why did this video come exactly when I needed it 😭😭 I love you girlie !!!

[@theplottery]

@@CatTubeVideosOfficial hahaha glad to hear it!

[@sunnafae.1886]

I love the outline tool, it’s so useful.

[@allycat2836]

Thank you very much for this tutorial! I use Microsoft 365, so I knew about the special indent first line. I came upon it by accident, lol. The use of the picture and the serif font is a great tip. I enjoy your videos. Update: I just tried the serif font, and the insert picture function on 365, and I love it. It also has a clipboard as well for the Chapter shortcut. Thanks again.

[@theplottery]

thanks! glad you found it helpful

[@Lilyofwords]

*Sharp inhale* WHERE WAS THIS TUTORIAL WHEN I NEEDED IT😭 Ahem sorry for the yelling but thank you now my document will be pretty.

[@theplottery]

@@Lilyofwords hahahah!! Amazing 😂 happy to help, even if it’s a little belated

[@danachristie5265]

I love all of the suggestions! Implementing them now! Thank you! :)

[@theplottery]

@@danachristie5265 yay good to hear!

[@pichii]

This saves lives. Thanks!

[@sarcastic_queenfr]

Thanks. It's sp helpful, your so underrated. Thanks for all the tips

[@theplottery]

@@sarcastic_queenfr thanks glad to help!

[@yasruu1123]

When I read “your novel” & “google”, I thought it was the review of our first Chp we filled from last video, I’m really looking forward for it, and hope to get selected 🙏🏼 (can we know when this video may come out?) I’m writing my novel in Notion, so each story has most of the sections they need (characters, backgrounds, and drafts..etc), for me it’s good till now 👌🏼

[@theplottery]

aw im unfortunately away travelling for a couple months so I've already bath recorded the video for this and next month, but the editing video is likely gonna be out end of October or sometime in November

[@yasruu1123]

@@theplottery hope you enjoy your vacation 🩵🙏🏼 And thank you for letting us know, I’m looking forward to it 😍🥰

[@spirituallylovingme-11]

Hi how do I add the pictures on your manuscript

[@ArtMe-rp4jf]

Hiii um.. can you give the margin sizes for each side please 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@Sherry-ot8tq]

I write on my iPad, could I still do this one there or would I need to do it on PC? Edit: sorry for the silly question 😭

[@dorysmith2776]

You need to set it up on your PC, but then it will follow on your iPad.

[@nina-w]

if you're still using google docs these tips should work.

[@theplottery]

@@Sherry-ot8tq you can set up some of this on the ipad but i dont think the indent is possible from what i can tell. Best bet is to set it up on desktop like someone recommended above!

[@samogrady4086]

@@theplotterysame problem here. I don't have a laptop only Ipad and Android tablet

[@theplottery]

@@samogrady4086 try to uninstall docs and google drive for a bit, and open your account on a browser, then see if you can edit your doc inside the browser. that way i might show up similar to this video. either way, you should be able to do all of this on the app as well. the only thing I'm not 100% sure about is the indenting/ruler. i think with the headings to be interactive, you might just have to choose the standard heading and then re-format it to fit your vibe.

[@Flupi-sx8qy]

The problem remains: Is it safe to use Google Docs, based on the AI features it provides?

[@theplottery]

Unfortunately, I think that problem is present with every writing software out there as they all seem to be updating to AI tools, which is incredibly sad, but I'm at a loss on what to do about it. You can certainly use offline versions of Microsoft Office, but it's difficult to trust any writing tool. If anyone knows more about this, feel free to share!

[@Flupi-sx8qy]

@@theplottery I know, that's why I'm asking. I was using Google Docs constantly, and now I'm...scared. I did everything you said, on my manuscript, in Word. It's the same basically, but I miss saving my work on a cloud.

[@theplottery]

@@Flupi-sx8qy As of right now with my own research, Google have said that they don't use any user's content to train AI, they only use it to provide their own AI service, so for now I'm choosing to believe them, and I'll continue to use Docs, but I definitely can't speak to this with certainty. Here's a link to where they've expressed this: cloud.google.com/document-ai/docs/security#does_google_use_customer_data_to_improve_the_models

[@arnoldfossman1701]

As far as I know Libre Office isn't moving in the direction of AI. Open Office likely isn't either. Both of those office suites are open source and likely don't have a budget or even interest in including AI functions. Also as far as I know they don't store your work to the cloud meaning that any hacker wanting to steal your work would have to find a way to read the storage on your machine rather than finding a way to hack some storage on the cloud. I currently use Libre Office but am as of yet not advanced in it to do any sort of tutorial on it. @theplottery Would you be interested in trying out either suite to see if you can learn one of them well enough to do a tutorial on it? Note: While Libre Office is as far as I can tell a stand alone suite, Open Office says that it needs the 32bit version of JRE for some of it's functions.

[@theplottery]

@@arnoldfossman1701 totally! I think it could be good to do a video on how to protect your writing from AI feeding as well, so maybe i can do a whole guide on that and how to best set yourself up in a safe way while still being digital

[@samogrady4086]

I don't have a laptop to do this. Only a Ipad and Android tablet

[@grimmdanny]

I ditched Google Docs because its clunky UI is a distraction, which is made worse by the fact that it's wrapped in an even clunkier browser window.

[@theplottery]

@@grimmdanny google docs is not for everyone! You can set this up in office or any other similar software

[@zamp_gaming]

You can minimize the menu bar in Google Docs and use full screen mode on your browser (F11) so it only shows your document.

[@MrRosebeing]

Good advice, but I wouldn't send that document to a serious publisher. If you're doing it for yourself then go for your life.

[@paprika8125]

what would you recommend for a serious publisher?