Chapter #7: The Elephant in the Room: Why I Don’t Indent in My Books (And Why That’s Changing)

Let’s talk about something that some readers have definitely noticed in my books…

I don’t indent my paragraphs.

Let me explain…

For as long as I’ve been writing, I’ve never indented my stories. Not because I don’t know how or because I don’t think it’s the “standard” format, but simply because... it doesn’t look right to me.

This is where my Autism and other mental health quirks come into play. Formatting is something my brain gets hyper-focused on, and for some reason, indented paragraphs look “off” to me.

I’ve always preferred a clean, left-aligned style with space between paragraphs. To me, it looks:

• Easier to read

• More visually appealing

• Less cluttered on the page

Ahem…

But that stops today!

With my new 99-cent short stories, I’ve decided to start indenting to experiment and see how it feels. Formatting differently is a big step for me, but I know many readers prefer the traditional style, and I want to make sure my books are as accessible and enjoyable as possible.

As for my already published books… I’m still deciding. Should I go back and reformat everything? Maybe. Maybe not. Right now, I’m weighing the effort versus the need, you know what I mean.