Layout
Your article MUST
look like this
2.5cm (1 inch) margins on all 4 sides
ALWAYS nominate a publication Exact wordcount
FOR: [name of your target publication you are sending this to]
Long (15-words?) descriptive title here in bold type
1,053 words
Your title probably will be changed, but if it's descriptive your editor knows at one glance what the article is about.
Always say whether or not you've enclosed a computer disk of the words or it's an email.
By Your Name ALWAYS insert your byline
Threg nakdj kakii qeij kgnc kd zmiy dhhfgt whhhdf fj f wuur nslzmxdgf ghggg
bnhygf shd wydjk mhhyr qdjf rwufjjp dn poytyg dnhue nghd, mnndh.
One white space between lines
Double-double white space between paragraphs
Nvihyew egh hdui poa pjpholjgh diu Njhop Mwtye jbhgy bnhygf shd wykjhgfd
Resdddnvjhlkjh jjewi kdh plh ljh[ouhgpouih [Margin guidelines ]
Use this big clear serif type: 14pt Times Roman
Hggewuu nvihyew egh hdui poa pjpholjgh dhdhweyjhop kwtye jbhgy:
- Dhfgew doiuhyb ed
- Gfftgew vbhyuhyxcdew Use bullet points for lists
- Boiab jhbjh N ahi
Mmhhyr qdjf rwufjjp dn poytyg dnhue nghd, mnnfb duud jdhgg mnbvvvhduqr
bjhdsqjfd dfjhh apipqpih.
Indent each new paragraph by 3 spaces
KEEP PARAGRAPHS SHORT (SAY 3-to-4 LINES)
Yd qpoi ijbbv kujoyiog okihuyd eii akbhoiygb poiqu lkjhn bygy akjb ae
bjhdsqjfd dfjrtyhh apip. At the end of a story add your email address if
you welcome reader contact. Then type: END
firstname.surname@hotmail.com
Fred Nurk (07) 9555 0954 or 0418 567 567 Page 6 of 6
Just in case your editor needs to urgently Never forget to number
phone you in the middle of editing, make her life easy each page.
and put your name and numbers on each page in a small typeface. See over page.?
You need to know how to automatically insert the words
"Page 1 of 6", "Page 2 of 6", etc, etc.
To set out your page in DOUBLE SPACING, do it this way. Type your article with no space between lines and one space between paragraphs. When you've finished your article, "Select" the whole document. Go to "Format". Go to "Paragraphs". Go to "Spacing". Under "Line Spacing", select "Double". This then gives you double-spacing between lines and double-double spacing between paragraphs.
- On the other side of this sheet of paper is the blueprint of how you MUST set out your hardcopy.
- ABSOLUTELY NO variations, please.
- Do not write in columns?write ACROSS the page.
- Do not layout your article and photos as if they are pages torn from a magazine. It's not your job to be a sub-editor and page-designer, and it's insulting to the person you're sending your article to.
- I am continually disappointed by students who foolishly follow some personal preference and do silly, unprofessional lay-outs of articles.
- PLEASE! You may be a potential Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. You may be a great writer, but you'll get nowhere if you can't perform the simple task of setting out your hardcopy correctly.
- You MUST use 14pt Times Roman Regular.
- You MUST have a long, descriptive, maybe 15-word heading (leave it to the sub-editors to change your ones into clever headings).
- You MUST put your by-line after the heading.
- State the exact number of words.
- And you MUST MUST MUST use double spacing between lines and double-double spacing between paragraphs.
Continue to write your letters and your non-article assignments in 12pt Times Roman Regular, but double-spaced to allow me room to edit and handwrite comments.
Students sometimes object: "Why all these rules?" Good manners. Many editors are aged 40+. Many people 40 and over don't have excellent eyesight, so put it in large type. Most importantly, editors are impatient and want to be able to skim-read QUICKLY. They HATE squinting over tiny, squashed-up 6 point type.
This is 6pt Times Roman, and yes, some students are silly enough to use it.?
This is 10pt Times Roman . . . still far too small. ?
This is 12pt Times Roman . . . still too small, except for letters and assignments that aren't articles. ?
This is 14pt Times Roman Regular . . . the right typeface for articles. ?
Use a sans serif typeface (like this one called Arial bold) in your letterheads.
Don'T Do This Please
Sometimes, students send me articles set out in columns with photos and captions inserted, like this:
Brown and Smith attend picnic in park
By BILLY MAGOO
MJJHG Kiohhd lkkdop ioood ot akk iphuye kadkjhn bmnnc ncg hekd kkdd.
Yjoiid sik klkwk dkkl kdl pqoowue ldi iuwgb lsllxbbv.
Ijjd wkel dlklh skdpopo.
Dllla hhwert dld qood bbxn froof dll, mjhuhud ahdhhjnv wuuejd jawoov.
Nhdyye dkkkds dkkd dleppo djkd skekkd skkdqod.
Kiohhd lkkdop ioood ot akk iphuye kadkjhn bmnnc ncg
Mgtfuklklouu j ihjuii0ohnojhhg
Yjoiid sik klkwk dkkl kdl pqoowue ldi iuwgb lsllxbbv.
Ijjd wkel dlklh skdpopo.
Mlla hhwert dld qood bbxn froof dll, mjhuhud ahdhhjnv wuuejd jawoov.
Zhdyye dkkkds dkkd dleppo djkd skekkd skkdqod.
lkkdop ioood ot akk iphuye
Jndnji palkjp qjnj djnu qepoiv kadkjhn bmnnc ncg hekd kkdd.
Ljoiid sik klkwk dkkl kdl pqoowue ldi kaeoo dkmjke hhd
Jjygiodruytfohk'm;l['''lkm'm'k
Ajjqiim mmdekkd akkd kkks dkkddkk dkkw qpwieu Mnnk
K]kjoyggoauerhuhjnn mkmk
Joan Brown and Jill Smith in the park
Lldj djjdj wrtyhdde kllkjkh jdjj ss jjjjje kkdreg jdhjfji kdkqkl oo
jjkddkk apkjnpjnapn poikilna u.
Please note these rules:
- NEVER set out your article as if that is how it will appear in a publication. Editors resent this. It's as if you're telling an editor how to do his job.
- NEVER insert photos INTO the same pages as your article. This confuses editors. They ask:
- Is the writer insisting I use these photos?
- If so where are the original digital copies?
- Who owns the copyright?
- Where are the captions?
- Who's given permission to use these?
- What rights are involved?
- How much will they cost?
. . . and on and on it goes. Irritating for an editor.
- Do not be unprofessional. Do not be doing other people's jobs and insulting their intelligence. YOUR job is to just write an article. An editor's job is to edit.
- Always type RIGHT ACROSS the page.
- Always follow EXACTLY the advice in my FactSheet called LAYOUT which you should have asked for by email after reading my first letter.)