Welcome, folks!
This chapter is going to cover some simple formatting styles that Wattpad offers. By the way, I haven't used a Mac computer since I was in the single digits, so if I make a mistake on one of your keyboard shortcuts or similar, please bring it to my attention!
1: Bold Text
To make your text bold, there are two ways to do this. If you're working on a computer, you can press CTRL + B before you write your bold text, or after highlighting the text you wish to make bold. Alternatively, you can select your text and press the B button in the grey box that pops up above it.
It is handy to know the keyboard shortcuts, because sometimes the box will not appear on computers, such as when you highlight large bodies of text.
On mobile, you also have two options. You can turn on Bold text before you write by tapping the Orange A with four lines to the right of it (I'm pretty sure if you change your theme colour with premium it will not be orange, but I don't have premium so I cannot confirm.) It can be turned off the same way. You can also use this to change the formatting of highlighted text.
2: Italic Text
To make your text italic, it follows the same premise as making your text bold, except your shortcut is CTRL + I (i), or the I button in either formatting menu.
3: Underline Text
To underline your text, it also follows the same premise, using CTRL + U on a computer, or the U button in your phone's formatting menu.
Note: All of these formatting options can be combined and you do not have to release control between them. For example, you can hold Control and press BIU one at a time before releasing Control, and all will be toggled on or off respectively.
Unfortunately, in your stories, strikethrough does not appear to be a feature despite what other formatting stories on here say. If that feature used to exist, it does not anymore. I have tried standard keyboard shortcut of CTRL + SHIFT + - to no avail, and there is no strikethrough option in any of the popup menus.
4: The Alignment Tool
Now, lets look at the third, fourth, and fifth icons in the formatting tray. These baffle me; they appear to work during story editing and text will hold the formatting so long as you're on that page, but I have never had centre or right alignment remain after saving, previewing, or publishing a chapter. These may have worked once, but on both Windows and the Android app, I have had this issue.
That being said, if you manage to make these work, please bring it to my attention. I need centre formatting in a few of my chapters, so a solution would be most welcome.
That's it for basic text formatting! In the next chapter, we're going to look at line spacing, indenting, and making an optimal line break for your chapter.
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Formatting Your Wattpad Story
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