Now...this article may come off as being a bit weird to many of you, but it’s a big part of me doing what I do with my own stories, and how I do everything that I can to create an immersive experience with everything that I write. I wanted to include it in my collection of writing tips, because as long as I’m giving my secrets away, I might as well give you everything, right? Hehehe!

See...to me, formatting isn’t just a matter of putting the paragraph breaks in the right places, or following some sort of mechanical blueprint to keep your text from looking like it’s falling to pieces or spinning out of control. I mean, yes...that’s a part of it, because you don’t want your text to appear as some big block of words without the proper breaks in paragraphs, or overlapping dialogue to the point where you don’t know who is speaking and who they’re talking to. You definitely want to separate those blocks of text to deliver a coherent and focused project that your readers can easily follow without any difficulty or confusion.

However...I feel like there’s more to formatting your story than the simple basics of making it ‘readable’ in a structural sense. Let me try to explain...

When you’re presenting your work to your readers...you’re putting on a performance. Right? I mean, at least, that’s how I’ve always seen it from the very beginning. Even when I write these articles...formatting is a part of the show. It may not be a part that most people notice, but it’s definitely something that I think about. Maybe this will get you guys to start thinking about it too.

Provided that I can find an effective way to communicate it to other people, that is! LOL! It’s hard to describe what’s going on in my brain sometimes, but I’ll do my best. K?

Some of you may have heard this from me before, but back when I was still an aspiring actor as a preteen boy, I used to watch the “Wonder Years” on TV, and even though I was sort of lost in a schoolboy crush (It was Fred Savage in the 80’s! Give me a break! EVERYBODY had a crush on him!), I was fascinated by some of his acting choices, and there were these well timed ‘pauses’ in his dialogue that I really loved. It’s hard to explain, but they added this genuine sense of humanity to his performance. Once I noticed that and began to mirror that in some of my own performances for auditions and stuff, I found myself getting more call backs and interest from casting directors. And soon...I began to hear those same pauses and artistic choices in music as well. They were subtle and they were hardly noticeable unless you were actively seeking them out...but they kind of made this slight difference that I really connected to and learned to appreciate. Artists like Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Prince, or Michael Jackson...they knew how to use these little breaks and formats to really bring you into what they were doing. The way that Frank Sinatra could hold a note and drag it out just a SPLIT second longer than you might be expecting him to, could make all the difference between a good song, and an AWESOME song! There’s a coded language hidden within those graceful instincts...and you can tap into them, once you understand what they are and how they work.

It’s that tiny added flavor to your mix of talents that will enhance your writing and possibly bump it up to the next level. With practice, of course.

The question is...how can you create that same feeling without the benefits of an audio or visual experience? Well...let’s talk about it. Literary ‘charisma’ actually CAN be expressed with words alone. And formatting can help.

When writing, you guys who have read my stuff already know that I use caps, italics, and pauses, in order to get the stories to read the way that I would want them to read. The way I would perform them in front of a mirror, or would want to deliver a certain way when it comes to put them on screen or on stage. There are certain words that I want to put emphasis on, and some that I would want to bring forth with a level of extra power or volume. By doing this, I can convey a sense of anger, or desperation, or uncontrollable joy. Between those little quirks and the punctuation that I use to enhance those sentences even further, I’m being given an opportunity to see and hear me through my words as if it was an actual performance.

And then...there’s the formatting.

(That, right there...is what I’m talking about. That paragraph break that I just tossed out there.)

Hmmmm...how can I explain the instinct?

You know how people write poetry? A talent that I wish I had, but simply can’t grasp for the life of me. Hehehe! But they know how to break up their thoughts into spaced stanzas and format their work in a way for maximum effect, whether the poem rhymes or not. There’s an art to it. There are spaces between thoughts as they switch and change, rise and fall, speed up and slow down. Pay attention to those spaces when you’re writing, and find out how to effectively use them to their full potential when you’re writing. It’s not really something that anyone can teach you, because it’s not really a tangible part of the creative process. You have to feel it out for yourself. And the only way to develop those instincts is to notice what you’re looking for, and then find a way to weave those moments into your conscious efforts as your telling your story.

For example...

I might be typing away on my keyboard, and write...

“Even though Brandon seemed to take the big confession of my deep feelings for him well, blushing and smiling to show me that he was truly flattered to have me be so overwhelmingly attracted to him that I couldn’t hold my infatuated swoon for him in secret anymore, I still didn’t know whether or not to take that as an acceptance of my feelings or not. At least not yet. Oh God, what do I do if he tells me that he’s not interested? Like, “Thanks but no thanks.” What do I do then?”

Now, that paragraph said everything that it needed to say, and I could leave it like that without thinking twice about it. It’s fine just like it is. BUT...what if I added a little bit extra by formatting that small excerpt in a slightly different way, for the sake of emphasis? When I look at it...I see ‘spaces’ that I can further take advantage of without changing a single word. (Hehehe, I told you this article would be weird! But hang in there with me!)

Going back over it...I would format things a bit differently. And it would probably look more like this...

“Even though Brandon seemed to take the big confession of my deep feelings for him well, blushing and smiling to show me that he was truly flattered to have me be so overwhelmingly attracted to him that I couldn’t hold my infatuated swoon for him in secret anymore, I still didn’t know whether or not to take that as an acceptance of my feelings or not.

At least not yet.

Oh God, what do I do if he tells me that he’s not interested? Like, “Thanks but no thanks.”

What do I do then?”

What I’ve done here is separate the main character’s thoughts into more of a...ummmm...chaotic mess. If that makes sense. Instead of one constant thought about his confession and ‘Brandon’s’ reaction to it, the paragraph breaks in the formatting has now given the reader the feeling that my protagonist is switching from one major thought to another. He starts by thinking about Brandon, then switches to not knowing yet how he feels...implying a feeling of hope. But then, once that thought is completed, he switches to a more pessimistic idea of failure and rejection. And then the question of what his next move would have to be after that happens.

It’s subtle and difficult to tell you guys why I would make the choices that I do when I’m writing...but this is what is going on in my head when I’m trying to create the best experience that I can for my audience. I can see it. I can feel it. Those little formatting glitches can sometimes add a bit of extra glitter and polish to your story once you tap into it. Every paragraph that you write is designed to be a complete thought and should convey its own emotion. Each paragraph is a story in itself. By optimizing your use of these paragraphs, you can add a feeling of humanity and relativity to the words that you put on the screen. Those ‘spaces’ that so many of us take for granted can give us an edge when it comes to drawing your readers in and highlighting the best parts of your story. But, like I said, it’s different for every writer. It’s an unspoken sixth sense that evolves for all of us over time. I can’t teach you how to do it. I can only draw attention to what you should look for.

If you have a part of your story that may feel a little ‘flat’ or like a lull between major events...seek out these spaces to see what you can do to bring attention to the ideas that you’re adding to your fiction. “Sometimes, loving someone means giving them the space to love themselves.” That one sentence? If you wrote that? That can be a paragraph all by itself. Don’t let it get lost in a block of text and less profound dialogue. Give that sentence a spotlight. You know?

If your main character is panicking over a confusing variety of infatuated thoughts...figure out what you want to highlight and let it shine. You can use formatting to add some extra weight or gravitas to a statement that you’re writing, or to create a feeling of drama or loss. You can use it in sex scenes, in action scenes, in moments of despair, or in moments of anger boiling out of control. Formatting counts for a lot more than you may think that it does. And I definitely use it to my advantage as often as I can.

It just makes a story more engaging in my opinion. And it allows more of the true ‘me’ shine through when I’m putting it all together.

Anyway, I hope that this makes some kind of awkward sense! All I can say is check out some of my stories on GayAuthors some time (Ask your GA friends for suggestions) if you want to get a better idea of what I’m trying to explain here. When you see those paragraph breaks and spaces here and there...those aren’t by accident. They’re by design. That’s my writer instinct at work. And if you look at your own work, you might find those special little spaces too. Make use of them! The next classic story is in your hands!

Take care! Thanks for reading! And I’ll seezya soon!