Header Section Formatting for full length novel

[madeliner16275940]

Hi everyone,

I have a hobby of writing novels for myself and then formatting them into paper versions. In the past, I have used Microsoft Word, but since I have gained some experience with InDesign, I wanted to try and use it to do some more advanced formatting. I downloaded a free template to give me a base start, but I'm running into an issue.

The template provided what I belive to be a section header for individual chapters. However, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to edit it.

I can't edit it with the text tool, nor does this header show up in the page master.

I'm completely new to formatting a book in InDesign, so any tips on how to edit what the above may be would be appreciated, or recommendations on any novel templates if there seems to be something wrong with this one.

 

[madeliner16275940]

Well it seems like I can't delete my question, but I found out how to edit the sections at the top. Now it's a matter of trying to figure out how individual chapters are set up... 

[Scott Falkner]

Would you be willing to share the tmeplate?

[madeliner16275940]

Sure thing--I've attached it. I was a dork and didn't realize I had to expand my window to see that there were, in fact, two masters set up. Now I just need to figure out how to set up chapter sections, but is more of a learning thing on my part.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

ID is probably the best tool there is for book design... but Word it ain't. 🙂

The learning curve, even to a relatively simple skill set for book page layout, TOC generation, etc. is a bit steep, but well worth learning and mastering. You can even go straight to EPUB/Kindle editions from the same file if you master another layer of skills.

Word is probably a better writing and editing tool, but it's nowhere near as good at publication as Bill G. would like to think. 🙂

[madeliner16275940]

ID is probably the best tool there is for book design... but Word it ain't. 🙂

Oh my God, I am feeling that right now 😂

I will check out the professional guide, thank you. I feel like I'm a little over my head right now haha -- But after having formatted in Word for so long, I do want to see what else I can do in InDesign... doesn't help that I'm on hard mode because formatting the Chinese characters is proving to be a headache, but c'est la vie