Anatomy of a Word Processing Page

All modern full word processing programs have these characteristics, though they often deal with them differently (and in some cases, things are very hidden). “Quick-n-easy” programs such as Microsoft Edit, Notepad, and Apple TextEdit do not have some of these abilities, but you would not use them for writing a full paper anyhow. The material below should work for every full word processor and every paper you need to type in college.

Working from the top of your page:

• Header is an element that will repeat at the top of every page you type. The templates I show you will have a special character (sometimes an invisible) which picks up the page number from the text and places it there.
  • Note 1: If you delete that special character and simply type a number 1, every page of your document will be page 1.
  • Note 2: If you decide to create a new paragraph at the top of each sheet with your own page number (rather than using the header from the template), your page numbers will land in weird places when I print out your paper. As a bonus, if you decide to do any late editing, you will have to go back and move all those paragraphs.
  • Note 3: There is also a thing called a “Footer,” which repeats the same text at the bottom of each sheet, but we have no use for that in our papers.
• Paragraph style defines all of the appearance characteristics: typeface, line spacing, ink color, and so on. Full word processors such as Apple Pages or LibreOffice are set up so you can change all of these things in one step by highlighting the paragraph and choosing a different paragraph style. Microsoft Word Online can do that too, but your choices are much more limited. Google Docs only has a few styles and does all its formatting “on the fly,” which creates some problems if you are not alert.
  • Word processors always interpret the Enter/Return key to mean they should keep the same style as the paragraph you have just left. If you open a template, type a centered title, delete everything below that, and hit the Enter/Return key to begin a new paragraph, everything in your paper will be centered, a very silly look. (If you mess up and everything is centered, highlight the paragraph and choose a “Body” paragraph style.)
• Typing the paragraph: You do not need to worry about where the line ends or where the page ends. Just keep typing and let the machine take care of those things. When you want a new paragraph, just press the Enter or Return key once.
• Line spacing: All of our papers will be double-spaced (which means they look like you have skipped a line). If you use the templates I show you, this part is automatic. If you want to do things yourself, find the “Line Spacing” item in a format menu and set it to 2 or Double. Do not simply hit the Enter/Return key twice at the end of each line you type.
  • Note: “Double-spaced” does not mean to hit the space bar twice between each word.
• First line indent: The first line of an academic paragraph is indented one-half inch. If you use the template, that is automatic; if you do not feel like using the template, hit the “Tab” key once before you begin typing the new paragraph.
  • If you do not feel like indenting your paragraphs (perhaps you are too much of an artiste to allow that ragged look on the left), that is a grammar error because the reader cannot figure out where your paragraphs begin and end. You will lose points.
• Invisibles are, of course, invisible. These are the keystrokes which do things but do not put ink on the page: Tab, Space, Enter/Return, Soft Return, etc. You can turn them on in most programs (except Google Docs), and sometimes seeing them will clear up formatting questions.
  • Oddly, and this has been true ever since I taught my first computer class in 1996, some students like to end a paper by inserting a LOT of Enter/Return characters to force a new page. Or two. Or 68 in one case. I have never learned why they do it, but if you are getting an extra blank sheet (or two or more) stapled to the back of your essay, it is because you leaned on that Enter/Return key after you finished typing.
• New page for bibliography: If you are typing a research paper which needs an MLA Works Cited page or an APA References page, you need to begin a fresh sheet for that page. Do not simply hit the Enter/Return key a bunch of times and hope for the best. (The result will always be wrong and silly-looking.) Instead, place the cursor at the end of the last line of your text and find “Insert Page Break” in a format menu. That way, no matter what editing you do to the body, the Works Cited or References page will always begin a new sheet.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Ashland University.

Revised 8/19/26 • Page author: Curtis Allen • e-mail: callen@ashland.edu.