The Basics of MLA Style

If you’ve done MLA formatting in the past, you know that there are a million rules pertaining to how to format your finished essays. Although,   I won’t bore you with all the details here, MLA formatting does have its place as it allows people to easily find references made within a piece of writing. And while double-spaced, 12 pt, Times New Roman font  with 1” margins all around might sound frivolous,  I guarantee you would appreciate the consistency if you were doing literary research, or editing manuscripts for a publishing house, or evaluating a stack of 200 student essays like the average high school English teacher does on a good weekend. Every discipline has its methods, as does our fabulous English language. So, remember these rules.

• 1” margins all around

• Double-space everything

• Include a 4-line heading on the first page of your paper which includes:

• Your name

• Your instructor’s name

• Couse name and number or period

• The submission date

• Create a title and center it. 

• Indent each paragraph 5 spaces

• Insert a header at the top right corner of each page that includes your last name and the page number.

You will also be expected to create a work cited page that specifically references all of the resources you used to write your essay. I do suggest that you become familiar with MLA, even though, Lucky for you, and unlike when I was in college, there are programs now that allow you to insert the information and then  do the work cited formatting for you. Best thing since sliced bread and I suggest you familiarize yourself with this miraculous app.

If you need any help formatting a paper, sign up for a FREE, 30-minute consultation and we’ll work on it together! Write ON!