Finals Space Filler

You’ve got your little tricks to superficially fill space in papers. Try this one if your intellectual stimulation is at its limit and you’ve got nothing else to say, from Columbia’s Bwog:

If you’re writing a paper and need another page or two but have nothing more to say (surely, we can all relate!), you should bump up all the periods to size 14 font. It’s impossible to tell (on the page or printed out) if the paper is double-spaced, and it results in an extra page of text. Right before our eyes, the history paper of a friend grew from 7 to eight and a half pages. It was breathtaking.

Or, make the periods smaller if you’re well over any page limit and have nothing left to cut out, you overachiever, you.

Bwog: How’d you Like to Finish Your Papers?

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22 thoughts on “Finals Space Filler

  1. Anonymous

    in ms word, you can use the ‘find’ option, then ‘replace’ and then ‘more’ to change all 12 pt. font periods to 14 pt. but it is noticeable, it’s true

  2. Anonymous

    in ms word, you can use the ‘find’ option, then ‘replace’ and then ‘more’ to change all 12 pt. font periods to 14 pt. but it is noticeable, it’s true

  3. Anonymous

    the aggregate effect depends on how long the paper is to begin with. if it’s 5-10 pages, it’ll add at least another page.

  4. Anonymous

    the aggregate effect depends on how long the paper is to begin with. if it’s 5-10 pages, it’ll add at least another page.

  5. Anonymous

    Also claiming that this adds “an extra page of text” is not mathematically sound. Would a one page paper become 2 pages? Would a 300 page thesis become 301?Just goes to show you, writing too many papers makes you terrible at math.Also, they don’t tell you to use the find all function, which is crucial for this to be time-feasible.

  6. Anonymous

    Also claiming that this adds “an extra page of text” is not mathematically sound. Would a one page paper become 2 pages? Would a 300 page thesis become 301?

    Just goes to show you, writing too many papers makes you terrible at math.

    Also, they don’t tell you to use the find all function, which is crucial for this to be time-feasible.

  7. Anonymous

    Agreed with 1:54 – this is NOT the optimal strategy for achieving the right paper length. What 1:54 described IS what really happens. Better methods are the usual messing around with margins (anywhere in the range of .75 – 1.25 is reasonable, and adding page numbers in a header or footer makes that margin not look as bad), messing around with fonts (be careful about it; some fonts are bigger and LOOK bigger or inappropriate, and some are bigger and don’t. use your judgment), and changing the spacing overall (1.75-2.25 for double spaced – differences aren’t very noticeable). Also, expanding your initial header can do wonders – including a line for your name, the date, the class, and the professor’s name is reasonable, as well as for the paper title.

  8. Anonymous

    Agreed with 1:54 – this is NOT the optimal strategy for achieving the right paper length. What 1:54 described IS what really happens. Better methods are the usual messing around with margins (anywhere in the range of .75 – 1.25 is reasonable, and adding page numbers in a header or footer makes that margin not look as bad), messing around with fonts (be careful about it; some fonts are bigger and LOOK bigger or inappropriate, and some are bigger and don’t. use your judgment), and changing the spacing overall (1.75-2.25 for double spaced – differences aren’t very noticeable). Also, expanding your initial header can do wonders – including a line for your name, the date, the class, and the professor’s name is reasonable, as well as for the paper title.

  9. Anonymous

    You definitely can tell when you do this. I did it for a paper last year and noticed as I was on my way to deliver it. The actual effect of doing this is that the spaces following lines with periods on them are bumped up to size 14, while the rest remain at size 12. Thus, the spaces in between lines alternate between bigger and smaller, depending on how often you use periods. You’re better off just changing the line spacing to 14 all around, so that the changes aren’t noticeable.

  10. Anonymous

    You definitely can tell when you do this. I did it for a paper last year and noticed as I was on my way to deliver it. The actual effect of doing this is that the spaces following lines with periods on them are bumped up to size 14, while the rest remain at size 12. Thus, the spaces in between lines alternate between bigger and smaller, depending on how often you use periods. You’re better off just changing the line spacing to 14 all around, so that the changes aren’t noticeable.

  11. Anonymous

    hahaha thanks.professors read this blog too, ya know? its probably best to let students find this out elsewhere, and not advertise it to profs.

  12. Anonymous

    hahaha thanks.
    professors read this blog too, ya know? its probably best to let students find this out elsewhere, and not advertise it to profs.

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