FORMAT: Blank Pages

[Marilynne Smith <m -dot- smith182 -at- GENIE -dot- GEIS -dot- COM>]

The way I solved this issue for myself was that I went into a book store and
looked at the technical books.  Not one considers it necessary to tell me
that a page is blank.

The convention of starting a chapter or section on a right hand page is an
old and honored one.  I would not consider starting a chapter or section on
a left hand page without a *very very very* good reason.

However, there are some areas where it is required that a blank page be
marked as such.  Deep in my heart I believe that the persons who require
this convention are not writers, but are concerned with security in some
way.  When I write for these people, I'll note that "This page is left blank
intentionally."  Somehow it goes against the grain for me to say "This page
is intentionally left blank."

When I can, I try to talk the powers that be out of marking blank pages.
When I worked for a subcontractor to DOE, I discovered it was *required*
that I use this notation when a document was classified, but *not required*
for other types of documentation.  The argument given was that it was
necessary for security reasons to know if a page was missing.  Since, in my
formative years, I printed a page upside down and was the only one who
noticed, I wonder if the convention is of any use at all.  Perhaps it
belongs in the "superstitions and fairy tales" category.

Marilynne
 m -dot- smith182 -at- genie -dot- geis -dot- com