Depending on where you post your fic, you may have the option of copying and pasting directly from your document into a rich text field. This has the advantage of simplicity, and it will retain basic formatting like bold and italics.
On AO3 and fanfiction.net (FFN), you also have the option of pasting your fic as HTML. The advantage to this is that you have much more control over the formatting and appearance of your work via AO3’s limited (and FFN’s even more limited) HTML, meaning you can add spacing, margins, small caps, and other formatting that can enrich your fic. If you’re comfortable with CSS, on AO3 you also have the option of creating a workskin that can give you even more options for formatting.
If you plan to use HTML (or the AO3 workskin option), you’ll need to convert the text from your document to HTML. The easiest way to do this from Word or Google Docs is to use an online HTML converter.
Be aware that converters don’t work perfectly, and some of your formatting might not be rendered correctly, so you will have to manually fix the HTML tags. I paste the output from my converter into Notepad++ (but any text editor will do) and do a search for the things I know are likely to be incorrect.
You can then paste your HTML into the platform’s code window.
Once you’ve uploaded your fic to the platform of your choice, you’ll want to proofread it carefully before hitting “publish.”
I recommend reviewing your formatting first.
Pro Tip: I always make a copy of my edited manuscript, then, on the copy, I use Word’s find and replace to highlight bold and italic text, special characters (e.g., ellipses) and any other special formatting I want to check when I post my fic. I use the highlighted document for reference as I’m checking my formatting.
Use the platform’s preview feature to see how your posted fic will look, paying attention to the following:
Spacing
Are your paragraphs spaced correctly? This is one of the most common things (particularly on AO3) to get lost in translation, with added space turning up frequently. If you’ve used margins or indents, you’ll want to check that these are correct as well.
Text Alignment
If you’ve used any special text alignment, like centered or right-aligned text, check to make sure it’s come through correctly.
Text Formatting
Check to ensure bold, italic, and other specially formatted text is rendered correctly. Make sure no strange changes of font family or font size have occurred.
Chapter Formatting
Make sure your chapter headings are formatted as you want. (And double-check chapter numbers while you’re at it.)
Special Characters
Some special characters, like the ellipsis character and curly quotation marks, dashes, or letters with diacritic marks, may require special HTML codes to render correctly. Check all instances of these to make sure they’re as you expect.
When you’re sure the formatting is how you want it, use the preview feature again to do your final proofread. In addition to looking for any spelling or other errors that might have slipped through the other editing phases, check for the following:
For a list of helpful writing and editing tools, see my Writing Resources page.
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