Starting a line indented to end of previous line (Poetry)

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Wolfie:

The OP said that the lines he posted are the longest. That means that it will take some significant font-sizing increase to create wrap. Yes, if it's read on a smartphone, sure...the 3rd segment will, maybe, wrap. But if he has a pigheaded client (I feel the pain), then this will mostly work on standardized standalone eReaders--Nooks, Kobo, iBooks, etc.

Hitch

iBooks is where it easily can break as iBooks is used on iPhones with wide margins.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

iBooks is where it easily can break as iBooks is used on iPhones with wide margins.

I don't disagree with you, Jon. I'd discuss it with the client, or even consider FXL. But he asked HOW to do it, right?

Hitch

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

iBooks is where it easily can break as iBooks is used on iPhones with wide margins.

The problem is coming up with a good compromise that is generally readable but also works—and wraps reasonably—with narrow layouts. Eliminating all visual indication of the indented lines is a non-starter, as they're integral to the reading of the poem. But changing how they are expressed visually is a perfectly fine idea.

Of the 170+ lines that are split-indent, 150+ of them are only split once; those are fairly easily handled by simply right-aligning the second portion of the line. It doesn't line up exactly properly, but it's easily readable, still indicates the shifts in lines just fine, and does as good a job of wrapping as anything (and I can use break-points to align them exactly on wider layouts).

It's the ones that have dual levels of indent that are more problematic; that's only 11 lines in a 5000+ line book, so it's a fairly small issue so long as they're at least readable across devices.

If I use RbnJrg's solution for those lines, they come out readable even on tight screens, though there's a bit of ugliness (see below) and I'm certainly open to alternative suggestions.

Attached are screenshots with reasonably wide, pretty narrow, and extremely narrow layouts that show a full line, a single split-line, and a dual-split line (followed by another full line) that gives an idea of what I'm working with right now—though I'll probably drop the hanging indent to 1em instead of 2em.

The extra vertical gap above “and then” on the narrowest layout is the most unsightly part, by far; suggestions on cleaning that up would be welcomed, though as I said it's only 11 lines in the book and it's more than readable as-is.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sjfan

The problem is coming up with a good compromise that is generally readable but also works—and wraps reasonably—with narrow layouts. Eliminating all visual indication of the indented lines is a non-starter, as they're integral to the reading of the poem. But changing how they are expressed visually is a perfectly fine idea.

I have an idea for the three lines.

1. Left justified
2. Centered
3. Right justified