How to Write in MLA Form
- 1). Set your document's margins at one inch on all sides by using your word processor's formatting tools. An exception: Some instructors may request a 1½-inch or larger margin on the left side of the page if your report will be bound in a folder that uses brads as fasteners.
- 2). Use your word processing software's formatting tools to set up automatic double spacing, which MLA style requires to ease documents' readability.
Again, some instructors or journals that otherwise conform to MLA style may request single spacing; check with your instructor or the journal's submission guidelines. - 3). Set up your paper's headings according to MLA style, which requires two separate headings: one for the first page and one for the rest of your document. Using your word processing program's formatting tools, select "View Header" and check the box for "Different First Page" to tell your program not to apply the first page heading to every page of your document.
Some word processors may have these options under a different heading. - 4). Align the first page heading at the left margin on the first page of your document. Check that the header is set to double spacing and include your name, instructor's name, course name and date as in this example:
My Name
Instructor's Name
Class Title and Section (if applicable)
Day Month Year - 5). Move your cursor down to the start of the document's second page and select "View Header" in your word processing program. Align this heading on the right margin; this heading will appear on every page of your document except the first page. Type your last name and the page number. If your last name were Smith, your heading would look like this example but aligned on the right side of your page:
Smith 2 - 6). Type the body of your paper using a 12-point font with your essay's text aligned on the left margin. Place your title on the first line beneath the header and center it. Insert in-text citations as you write, using MLA citation format.
A parenthetical MLA citation typically employs the author's last name and the page number of the citation in parentheses. If no author is given, use the first word of the cited work's title. For example, here is a parenthetical citation using MLA form:
In "Chanteuse," the poet writes about "light stained by the skin / of flowers, the shadows of bloom" (Doty 25). - 7). At the end of your text, write the bibliography, which is called a "Works Cited" list in MLA style, including every work you cited in your essay. MLA citation style lists the author, title of article/chapter/poem/story, title of book and then complete publication information. The Works Cited citation for the poem in the example would look like this, with the title of the book, "My Alexandria," in italics:
Doty, Mark. "Chanteuse." My Alexandria. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993.
