What it is: It's a feature in Microsoft Word (and perhaps other programs) that allows users to see the root structure of a document. 

Why it's your foe: It allows any editor to see how your file is formatted and how closely you adhered to their guidelines. Did you put two spaces after a period when the guidelines expressly requested one space? Did you use tabs when the editor asked you to set indents by paragraph? With one click the editor can see what you did without going blind.

Why it's your friend:  It allows you to see what the editor sees and to fix any problems before you hit send..

Here two screen shots without Show All.

Here are the same screen shots with Show All.

Whether your are submitting a novel or a short story, formatting a manuscript for submission can feel overwhelming. This is perhaps even more true for short stories where submission guidelines can vary from publication to publication.  But let's say you've decided to self-publish. Nothing wrong with that except formatting your file is, to say the least, a headache. The information below can help you. 
The first things you need to know
Microsoft gives you any number of ways to format your file but there really are only two kinds of formatting. 

• Root formatting: This may or may not be the technical term for this.  Anyway, think of a tree with roots extending deep into the soil. Like a tree when you format at the root, your file is stable.
  

• Surface formatting: This is like gift wrap. The box is pretty until you open it. Though file transfer over the internet has gotten better, files that have been made to look pretty but are not actually pretty, can arrive garbled.

• Styles:  Styles are the bomb! It is possible to make five or six styles that will cover just about every formatting request you'll ever receive. Then all you do is control A (this selects all of her file) and click the style you want. Voila!  Exactly what the doctor ordered in two seconds regardless of the length of  your manuscript. 
  
  

However, setting up styles can be confusing , especially if you don't know how to format your document at the root level.  Well, that's all for today. In the future I plan to look at some guidelines for specific publications and show you how to set up the document.  If you can't wait to get started some great Google search terms are "Styles in Word" and "Formatting at the Paragraph level in Word."  If you feel lost after reading some stuff, don't worry. This is just one of those things that's hard until it's easy.  I  personally had a lot of false starts, but now formatting is supper easy.

If you are having trouble decoding some guidelines, feel free to send me a link. I can then create a post showing how to easily set up a file to the specifications of that publication.

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M. R. Jordan