HS Language Arts Lesson 12 page 5

Language Arts Lesson 12
Written and Oral English Language Conventions: Grammar and Mechanics of Writing (Grades 9-12)

A manuscript is a written or typewritten composition or document. You may need to submit a manuscript for school. Or you may want to submit a manuscript of a fiction or nonfiction piece of writing to a publisher. In this case, you may be trying to get your book or article published.

You may write the most fantastic piece of literature ever, only to have it discarded because it is formatted incorrectly or looks sloppy. This section will give you some guidelines for formatting a manuscript.

You can either write your manuscript first, then format it, or you can format as you go. Either way is fine.

First, you need a title. The title should accurately hint at the contents of the paper. It should be interesting without being too novel or cute. Also, it should not be too long.

Secondly, you need an introduction. The introduction is separate from the title. You shouldn’t reuse the title in the opening sentences of your introduction.

Your introduction should do these things:

Establish the tone of your paper. Is it funny, angry, or informative?
“Hook” the reader’s interest.
Be closely related to the main topic of the manuscript
Not be too long

After the introduction, you will come to the body of your manuscript. The body is the meat of your work. Here are some tips for writing the body:

Make sure the information is in logical order
Use most of your words to explain main ideas, and use shorter explanations for minor ideas
Don’t make your paragraphs too long or too choppy
Explain any technical terms
Think about transitions between sentences and paragraphs. You want your manuscript to have a good flow.

Finally, you’ll need a conclusion to your manuscript. The conclusion is not just a restatement of the introduction in different words. Also, it should not be vague or dull. Instead, it should make a good final impression. You need a final statement of the idea that you developed throughout the paper.

Once you have your manuscript written, you will need to proofread it. Try to allow yourself enough time to put at least one day between completing the manuscript and rereading it for mistakes. This will help you to be more objective. Look for the grammar mistakes we talked about in this lesson. Also, look for spelling errors, wordiness, poor punctuation, vague sentences, and lack of flow/transitions.

Formatting for Publication

If you are submitting a manuscript because you want to have it published, you will want to pay attention to these formatting guidelines. First, your manuscript should be typed. Don’t use a fancy font. Courier is a good font. The font size should be easy to read. A 12-point font is a good size.

Don’t justify the margins of your paper. Justifying the margins means that you make the words extend all the way across the screen or page so that the right side of type is a straight line down the page. Just let the right margin fall wherever it naturally does.

Leave a nice wide margin of at least an inch all the way around the edges of the page. And double-space your lines so that the editor you are submitting to can make notes.

Place your name, address, and telephone number in the upper-left corner of the first page of your manuscript. In the upper-right corner of the first page of your manuscript, you should place an approximate word count.

Halfway down the first page, center your title. Under that, put your byline, the author name you want to appear if it’s published. This may or may not be your real name.

Four lines below your byline, you can start the body of your work. You may or may not have a separate introduction for a manuscript of this kind. If it’s a novel, you probably won’t.

Follow these guidelines, and your manuscript will look professional. This will give you a better chance at a better grade, or even being selected for publication.