Chapter openings: drop caps and lead-ins

The first page of a chapter is where a book shows a little ceremony: the chapter starts partway down the page, the title sits just so, and the first paragraph often opens with a large capital letter and a few words in small capitals. This page covers those touches.

Screenshot: the "As it prints" preview of a chapter's first page, with a three-line dropped capital and the first words in small caps.

The initial and the lead-in

On the Fonts tab of Page setup (in the Book menu), the Chapter opening card sets how a chapter's first paragraph begins.

• Initial — the first letter of the chapter:
  • None — an ordinary first letter.
  • Dropped — a large capital set down into the first few lines of the paragraph, the text wrapping around it.
  • Raised — a large capital standing on the first line and rising above it.
• Lines — how many lines the initial spans. Three is the classic.
• Initial font — a font for the big letter alone. A display face can carry a single large letter beautifully where the body font can't; leave it on the body font for something quieter.
• Lead-in — the first few words in Small caps or Capitals, easing the reader from the big letter into the text.
• Words — how many words the lead-in runs to. Three or four is usual. If you'd like it to end at a natural place, a line break in the text ends it early.
• Lead-in font — a font for the lead-in alone. Small caps look best in a font that has real ones; where it doesn't, Write makes them from capitals.
• Also after every scene break — opens the first paragraph after each scene break the same way.

Screenshot: the Chapter opening card on the Fonts tab of Page setup, showing Initial, Lines, Initial font, Lead-in, Words, Lead-in font and the Also after every scene break box.

The initial can also have its own color, under Colours on the same tab.

Where the chapter starts on the page

On the Layout tab:

• Opener drop (in the Text card) — how many lines of space sit above the chapter title, so the chapter begins partway down the page. Six to ten is typical.
• Chapters open on a right-hand page (in the Headers and footers card) — the way most novels do it, with a blank left-hand page added when needed. Untick it to let chapters start on whichever page comes next, which saves paper.

The title itself

Also on the Layout tab, the Chapter title and headers card sets:

• Title — the chapter title against the left margin, centered, or against the right.
• Header rows — where the rows under the title sit (a date, a place, a point of view).
• Title case — As typed, Capitals or Small caps. The contents page always keeps titles as you typed them.
• Spacing — a little extra space between the letters, which capitals and small caps want: 0.05 is a touch, 0.1 is airy.
• Title size and Header size, in points.

How chapter numbers read—Chapter Four, 4, IV—and what goes in the rows under the title are set in the chapter header setup; see Set up your chapter headers. Pictures and ornaments for the opening are in Pictures in a chapter opening.