Widows and Orphans
Widows and orphans will be taken care of by the book
designer when all
editing changes have been completed. Here's some information about
W&O.
An orphan is the first line of a paragraph at the bottom of a
page or column; a widow is the last line of a paragraph at the
top of a page or column. Both should be avoided, though orphans are
less damaging to appearance. If absolutely necessary, widows may be
tolerated if they are over half a line in length. Be especially careful
to avoid widows and orphans between the bottom of a right hand page and
the top of the following, left hand page, as you must turn the page to
finish the paragraph.
Guidelines:Writing guides generally suggest that
a
manuscript should have no widows and orphans, even when avoiding them
results in additional space at the bottom of a page or column.
Corrections for widows and orphans are made only when
all editing
changes have been completed. Some techniques for eliminating widows
include:
-
Forcing a page break early, producing a
shorter page;
-
Adjusting the leading, the space between lines of
text (although such
carding or feathering is usually frowned upon);
-
Adjusting the spacing between words to produce
‘tighter’ or ‘looser’
paragraphs;
-
Adjusting the hyphenation of words within the
paragraph;
-
Adjusting the page’s margins;
-
Subtle scaling of the page, though too much
non-uniform scaling can
visibly distort the letters;
-
Rewriting a portion of the paragraph;
-
Reduce the tracking of the words;
-
Adding a pull quote to the text (more common for
magazines); and
-
Adding a figure to the text, or resizing an existing
figure.
-
An orphan is cured more easily, by inserting a blank
line or forcing a
page break to push the orphan line onto the next page to be with the
rest of its paragraph. Such a cure may have to be undone if editing the
text repositions the automatic page/column break.
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