Too bad they're covered in mud. No one will want them in this condition. Well, I take that back. My sons wear boots that look just like this every time they go to work on the farm with their dad, and they never complain. But cut me some slack. I'm trying to make a point here.
A perfectly good manuscript might be overlooked if it is muddied by poor presentation. The problem is, there is so much conflicting information out there about proper manuscript formatting that it's hard to decipher exactly what 'proper' is.
There are some things that remain constant, though. A manuscript should be double spaced. There should be a header with the working title and author's name (unless you are submitting for a contest). The pages should be numbered. There should be at least a one-inch margin on each side. And it should be typed in at least a 12 point font.
Pretty straight forward, right? Not so fast. There are plenty of discrepancies, too, so I thought I'd start my discussions about contradicting information off with the topic of manuscript formatting.
Because this post is already long enough, let's talk about page numbers today. It seems the issue that will require the least amount of discussion.
Some say the page number should be at the top right corner of the manuscript in the header, while others say it's okay for it to be centered in the footer. One thing that's for certain, though, is that each page should be numbered.
What do you think? Where should the page number go?
