Where do you put the page numbers? -answer

There are only two REALLY wrong answers and those are:
(1)on the page top, and
(2) on the page bottom.

If you do that and the pagination changes (such as when I reformat your ms to have doublespacing, 1" margins, TNR not Courier, and remove all the pretty graphics) you end up with p. 32 somewhere in the middle of the text on page 61.  And that my writer friends is NOT something you want.

The correct answer is lower right footer.

Here's the answer in lovely graphic form to show rather than tell:

and certainly not on the top of the page

Or on the bottom

NOTICE IT SAYS **FOOTER**

Now, if someone wants it done to their own specifications you follow their directions. But if you just need to do it right in absence of instructions, this is the way.

There's a reason this is the correct way: if a manuscript is printed out on paper for any reason, and it's in a stack, and you need to find page 62, you flip through the pages to find the right one. Where do you look?  Upper left hand corner? Sure, if you're writing in Hebrew. Upper right? Well, OK, I guess, but try it.  (It's awkward as hell) Lower right footer is the easiest and most natural way to flip through pages IF you are right handed.  Thus it is the industry norm.


Any questions?

I thought not.

Fortunately you all write a whole lot better than you format. Reading your entries is really cutting in to the amount of time I have to lallygag around tormenting the minions.