Chapter 5 of Tom Clancy's 'Net Force,' from the 1999 volume entitled 'Hidden Agendas.'
c2012 (S)
The first thing I noticed was the first paragraph of each chapter was a block paragraph without any indents, whereas all other paragraphs whether exposition or dialogue are indented.
The other thing I noticed is that the book, which is fiction, has a few semi-colons.
Imagine my dismay, for at least one book rejection I received included the statement that I had 'too many semi-colons.' Lately I don't put any semi-colons in a story, and when I rewrite a story, I always take them out!
As far as format or layout goes, there is some variation in the way books are laid out, in the chapter titles, in the paragraph layout, etc. It's not that there are no rules, far from it, but the number one rule is clarity for the reader.
When it comes to criticism, it pays to take a moment and figure out who's talking, and whether they are competent, and what they are really saying, and why they are saying it.
Some of them might have a few hidden agendas of their own.
