Words in Transition

The arrival of the Information Age has brought with it a flood of written material. It’s to no surprise, therefore, that increased attention is being paid to the presentation of written materials. Formatting-improving readability through good page design-helps the reader understand your message by highlighting content and organization. Today’s word-processing software makes it easy to format your written work. You can use different type sizes or styles for emphasis and even insert tables and graphs to help your reader visualize information. The same word-processing software also simplifies writing that must appear in conventional formats, such as academic manuscripts, business letters, and memos.

With all the formatting capabilities available on even the most basic computer software, how do you decide what to do? The answer lies in the piece of writing itself. What is the subject matter? A research paper in the humanities, for example, must follow MLA guidelines (see FORMAT 2). How long is the paper? Would heads make it more readable? What is your purpose, and who is your audience? Is your topic very complicated? Would a list instead of an extended narrative paragraph help your reader understand a particular point better? Aside from these questions, there are, of course, such fundamental matters as setting margins and choosing a text typeface.

Basic Page

Formatting of any kind of writing begins with four basic decisions: margins, spacing, type style, and type size.

Margins & Spacing

Unless instructed otherwise leave a 2.5 cm (1 inch) margin at the top and bottom of the page and on the right and left sides. (Sometimes a preference to 3.8 cm [1½ inch] margin on the left.) Leave a ragged (uneven) margin on the right, because a justified (even) margin causes odd spacing between words and too many hyphenated words at the end of lines.

Most academic writing is double-spaced. Long research papers or reports may be line-and-a-half spaced so that they are readable but not any longer than necessary. Memos are usually single-spaced to be sure they fit on a single page, the preferred length in the business world.

Styles

Use familiar styles (Courier, Times Roman, Helvetica, Geneva) in a standard 10 or 12 point size. Do not use a script typeface or all italics or capitals for your main test; they are too difficult to read. If you have heads and subheads, use the same type style, though you may slightly increase the point size.

When you have made your basic page-design choices, you may want to print out a sample page. Adequate margins and a type style and size that do not call attention to themselves will transmit your message most effectively.

Improving Readability

Use the formatting capabilities of your computer to improve the readability of long and complex pieces of writing.

There is no substitute for good organization in a piece of writing, but in the case of long or complex research papers and reports, the use of heads and sometimes even subheads can enhance readability. Heads and subheads break an extended piece of writing into visibly distinct chunks, allowing the reader to enter and exit your train of thought, to stand back and see what has gone before and what is to come. Heads serve as a road map for reading.

Consistency is very important in using heads. First, you must be consistent in how you phrase headings. Most heads are a single word, usually a noun (Stress), or phrase (Types of Stress). Often they are gerund phrases (Relieving Stress). Heads may also be questions, which are then answered in that section (How can you relieve stress?). Whichever type of head you start with, however, you must continue using that type throughout your paper. If you are using both heads and subheads, you can make all your heads one type (say, single-word nouns) and all your subheads another type (perhaps gerund phrases).

You must also be consistent in the type style and size of your heads.

Suppose your text type is 10 point Helvetica. All your heads should also be Helvetica, but you might put your main heads in 14 point and your subheads in 12 point. You have some options in how you present your heads: boldface (heavier type), underlining, italics or bold italics, all capitals, and capitals and lower case.

Types of Stress

Types of Stress

Types of Stress

Types of Stress

TYPES OF STRESS

As with phrasing, you may choose one style for heads and another for subheads. Again, though, you must be consistent in whichever you choose.

Finally, you must be consistent in the placement of heads. By convention, main heads are usually centered and subheads are at the left margin.

Main Head

Subhead

Heads can improve the readability of a long or complex piece of writing, but they must be used judiciously. Too many heads and levels of subheads can be distracting or annoying. Every head should introduce a key concept, not a major point.

One way to make an extended piece of writing more manageable for your reader is to break it into sections with heads and subheads. Within sections, you may similarly be able to help your reader by pulling material out of the text narrative and presenting it as a more visually accessible list. Some types of material lend themselves to list-making more than others, of course. Steps in a process, categories, and how-to instructions naturally fit into a list.

Set off a list by indenting from the left margin. You can draw attention to the individual items in your list with graphic symbols, such as bullets

• solid dots,

• squares,

• circles

Graphic symbols are a good idea if the items in your list run over one line; in this case, it is also a good idea to indent the second line. See how indentation and graphics work in this example:

Experts say there are four major ways to relieve stress:

• consider whether you are accurately appraising the situation,
• use your problem-solving skills to take action,
• seek the support of family and friends, and
• pay attention to your health by eating right, getting enough exercise, and going to bed at a regular time.

This example also shows that you should introduce a list with a colon, put a comma (or semi-colon) after each item, and end with a period. Note, too, that the phrasing should be parallel. In this list, every item begins with a verb: consider, use, seek, pay. Do not overuse lists. As with heads, they are only effective if used judiciously.