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I have a book that contains both prose and poetry. I don't want a poem to start too close to the bottom of the page.

That's what the nobottomtitles option of titlesec is for. I don't want this to apply to the prose sections, however.

A solution would be one of the following:

  • Let nobottomtitles apply only to \raggedbottom environments.
  • Allow nobottomtitles to be turned off or on. (Can the package option be changed midway through the document?)
  • Let nobottomtitles apply only to a particular section level—say, subsubsection.

Example to work with:

\documentclass[12pt]{book}

\usepackage{verse}
\usepackage[nobottomtitles]{titlesec}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\setlength{\parskip}{0pt}

\newcommand{\poem}{%
\begin{verse}
First line of poem\\
Second line of poem\\
Third line of poem\\
Fourth line of poem
\end{verse}
}

\begin{document}

% Flush bottom for prose
\flushbottom

\section{Prose section}
\lipsum

\subsection{Prose subsection}
Can be at bottom of page

\subsection{Prose subsection}
Can be at bottom of page \lipsum

% Ragged bottom for poetry
\raggedbottom

\subsection{Poetry subsection}
\begin{verse}
Make\\
this\\
one\\
six\\
lines\\
long
\end{verse}

\subsection{Poetry subsection}
\poem
\poem
\poem

\subsection{Poetry subsection}
\poem
\poem
\poem

\end{document}
Micah Walter
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  • Well you can always do a manual break using \newpage to put that title that appears at the bottom of the page and send it to the following, in the last stage of editing. Of course, that's nothing automatic, I don't know if this will be useful for you. – Aradnix Sep 26 '14 at 17:47
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    Yes, this might be my fallback. Of course, I'd like to automate it using one of the above methods, as they should be algorithmically possible. – Micah Walter Sep 26 '14 at 19:04
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    I just found the needspace package, which should solve the problem decently. – Micah Walter Sep 26 '14 at 19:07
  • If you still need help, I know a cute trick using \rule and \vspace. – John Kormylo Sep 27 '14 at 02:26
  • @JohnKormylo As far as my specific project is concerned, I think my problem is solved, but if it helps the general case it's probably worth sharing! – Micah Walter Sep 27 '14 at 17:10
  • See http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/185059/preventing-page-break-after-the-first-or-before-the-last-list-item/185496#185496 – John Kormylo Sep 27 '14 at 18:19

0 Answers0