Does manuscript formatting matter for my Twig Dev Edit?

Short answer: barely.

Twig looks at your manuscript's content, not its formatting. But it might slightly affect your chapter notes.

Here's exactly what matters and what doesn't.

Doesn't Matter: Line Spacing, Fonts, and Margins

We convert your manuscript to plain text before reviewing it, so line spacing, font choice, and margins get stripped out entirely.

Upload it however you like.

Might Matter: Chapter Formatting

Twig uses your chapter markers to organize the Chapter-by-Chapter Notes. Any of these work:

  • A line that starts with the word Chapter (like "Chapter 1," "Chapter One," or "CHAPTER I"). Capitalization and numerals vs. spelled-out numbers don't matter.
  • "Part," "Book," or "Volume" work the same way.
  • A heading style in Word (Heading 1 or Heading 2) applied to your chapter titles, even without the word "Chapter." For example, a heading that just says "The Storm."

Scene breaks (***, ---, or a centered symbol) are recognized automatically too. No specific format required.

Here's an example of Chapter 1 Formatting. For the chapter notes, the main thing is to have the text "Chapter" beginning its own line. After that, it will use H1 or H2 formatting to determine chapter headings. If the manuscript is missing both, Chapter Notes may come out as one long block.
Everything after "Chapter" will be used in the title (in this case "?" in my manuscript!). If there's nothing there, then the title will be labelled "Untitled"

What if I don't have chapter titles?

If your manuscript has no chapter markers at all, no headings, no "Chapter" text, Twig can't tell where one chapter ends and the next begins. The Chapter-by-Chapter Notes will read your whole manuscript as one long chapter.

Everything else in your edit, the Editorial Letter, Revision Plan, and Welcome Letter, works from the full manuscript and isn't affected by chapter markers at all.

If you want strong chapter-by-chapter feedback, add a simple marker before each chapter, even just typing "Chapter 1," "Chapter 2"... "Chapter X" etc. on its own line

Need help?

If this didn't answer your questions, email us at [email protected]. We're happy to help. before you upload and we're happy to take a quick look.

And if your Chapter Notes come out inaccurate or out of order even with clear chapter markers, check out Why are my Chapter Notes inaccurate or showing chapters out of order?