Use a computer to type your essay. Select an accepted font, such as Times New Roman or Calibri. Click on the "line spacing" button of your word processor and select "2.0" or "double spaced." Click on your "Page Layout" tab and click on your "Margins" button. Select one inch margins for the top, sides and bottom of each page. Move your mouse to your "Spacing" options and select "0 pt" for your after-line spacing. Use this layout for all MLA documents.
Type your name in the upper left-hand corner of your page. Type your teacher's name, your class with your section number and date below this. Center your text for the next line and type the title of your essay. Hit "enter" to go to the following line, and tab once to indent your introduction.
Write your essay, making sure to keep every page in the proper layout. Use the proper in-text citations for all information that you quote from other sources. Remember to place your in-text citations inside of your sentence punctuation. For instance, if you were paraphrasing something from a book, you would format it like this, "Your quote would be within quotation marks" (Author page). Remember to use only the author's last name, unless you have multiple authors with the same last name.
Design a header for your paper by clicking on your "Insert" tab. Click on your "Page Number" button located on your "Header & Footer" section, and then "Top of the Page" and "Plain number 3." Click on the number you have just created, and type your last name to the left of the number. Finally, select "Different first page" on the options for your header, located at the top of your word processor page. Check to make sure that this has removed your header from your first page.
Click on "Page Break" on your "Insert" tab after you have finished your essay. On the new page, center the words "Works Cited" at the top of your page. Document all of the sources that you used in your research, but make sure that they are in the proper MLA format. Click on your "References" tab and click "Insert Citation." Input the information for each source separately.