Writing - What Is a Manuscript?

Individuals working within the writing and publishing industry, or those who take an interest in this industry, will come into contact with the term 'manuscript' all the time. But for those of us who aren't aware of the terminology of the writing and publishing world, it can be off putting to hear the term 'manuscript' batted about when we are not entirely sure of the meaning of the word.

In its rawest sense, the term 'manuscript' refers to anything that has been hand written by a person or a group of people. This therefore means that the term could refer to a letter, an inscription, graffiti, a diary entry, a handwritten report, essay, book, poem, etc - the list is endless. The term was first recorded in 1594 and at that time it literally translated to mean 'written by hand'.

Nowadays however, with the introduction of computers, mobile phones, the BlackBerry, iPads and iPhones, we rarely write anything by hand - preferring instead to type, text or email. It is certainly a quicker and more convenient way of communicating through the power of words. Thus the meaning of the word 'manuscript' has also changed somewhat in modern day, and now relates to a piece of unpublished writing which has been submitted for academic review and publication or for general publication and printing. It is important to remember that a manuscript is not defined by its content. You could after all have a manuscript that is formed entirely of drawings, illustrations, poems, technical drawings. It doesn't need to be a fiction or non-fiction piece of writing that hasn't yet been published. Those 'in the know' shorten the term 'manuscript' to the initials 'MS'. So, in the modern day publishing and literary land, for a piece of work to be deemed as a MS, it needs to have the following characteristics:

- Be the original version of a work created or written by the author or composer
- Be in its unpublished state

The term 'manuscript' is not however limited to the world of writing and publishing. Insurers use the term too, with a manuscript policy referring to a policy which has been negotiated by the insurer and the policyholder. In library science, the term refers to a hand-written item that resides in the library, and in the dramatic world of theatre, TV and film production, the term refers to the text that has been produced by the author - now more commonly shortened to the word 'script'.

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