A person types on a typewriter surrounded by wadded up discarded drafts, some of which cover the typist’s head.

What Makes a Chapter of a Novel?

A chapter is a chunk of a book that comes to a recognizable end, usually marked by a page break or by an extra space followed by a new numbered or titled chapter. Chapters give readers of long works a place to pause. They provide a rhythm to the experience of reading.

Portion of a Macintosh keyboard. The Shift key has been replaced with a "Magic" key.

3 Easy E-Tricks for Writers, and 1 for Fun

Almost every writer I know has a love-hate relationship with their writing program, whether it’s Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, or a yellow legal pad. It’s clear there’s no single perfect choice for drafting, editing, and formatting your work for publication.

A typewriter with a bright-red ribbon. The word "Proofreading" is centered on an otherwise blank page.

PDF Proofreading Markup

Copyeditors typically work in a word-processed manuscript, making and suggesting changes directly in the document. Proofreaders come in at a later stage, after the manuscript has been converted and formatted for publication in a program like Adobe InDesign.

Cartoon slash with googly eyes

Chicago Style Workout 63: Slashes

The punctuation mark that many of us know as the slash appears on standard computer keyboards. But even though it sits right there next to the period and the comma—and though it was once used as a form of sentence punctuation like those marks—the slash is comparatively uncommon today in ordinary prose.