How to Type a Proper Essay in Google Docs

When it comes time to start an essay many students panic just at the thought of it. Yes, essays can be hard but that is not an excuse as to why you can’t get an A on it. I have taken some information from the following sites (which I have created a reference page for) that will help you and other students successfully format a correct and well-written essay. 

1. To start off an essay you have to type your name, class period/class name and date onto the paper. It is nice to have all this aligned to the top right corner of the page. Do this by clicking on the line options above the right margin. Choose the lines that start to form from the right.

2. Now you must think of a title that correlates to the topic you will be writing about. Don’t overthink it too much, go simple and to the point.

3. Once you finish with the title, you will have to center it onto the page. You can do this by clicking on the line options next to the “Insert image” button.

4. Great! You’re already off to a good start just by doing this so far. Most students forget the simple but yet important rules of starting off an essay.

5. Now that we’re done with that, we move onto the format of the paragraphs in the essay. A proper essay has one space between the title and the first paragraph. Click the spacebar once and indent.

6.  After the indentation, you may start to type your essay. Many, if not most, teachers prefer their students to use the font “Times New Roman” size 12. To do this, click on where it says “Font” and scroll down until you find “Times New Roman”. 

7. To change the font size there should be a box next to where it says “Font”. Click on that and a variety of number options should pop up. Choose “12”. If the teacher has not specified certain font size and you wish to choose a number that does not show up on the size chart, simply click on the inside of the font box and enter the desired size.

8. Now comes time for the proper spacing between lines in an essay. A good quality essay uses doubled spaced lines. To do this, click on the box that has an arrow on the left side of the lines (should be next to the box with the numbers on its left side). Once you click on that, 4 options for line spacing pop up. Choose “Double”. 

9.  In the introductory part of your essay make sure you include the opening statement, supporting sentences, and the introductory topic sentence.

10. Keep indenting after each paragraph. A good paragraph usually has about 5-8 sentences in it. 

11.  Make sure to talk about each idea briefly mentioned in the introductory paragraph throughout the body paragraphs.

12. A well-written essay is typically 5 paragraphs long (unless otherwise specified by your teacher). To be safe, use five paragraphs as the minimum amount if you want an A on this essay.

13.  Finally, in the conclusion of the essay, go over the brief points that were mentioned in each body paragraph and come up with a short summary of the overall point of the essay in one-two sentences. 

14.  If your teacher is one who would like the essay shared with her through email rather than print it, simply click on the blue box next to your google icon that says “Share” and enter your teacher’s email into the search box. Click on his/her email. Then hit the blue “Send” button. Voila, you’re done.