Once you have finished typing. Select the first paragraph of the text. You can select text by clicking and dragging the cursor over the text, until it is highlighted, the highlighted text will be blue.
Go to Format on the toolbar and then choose the Borders and Shading option.
Choose the Shading Tab and light blue by clicking on the colour. Click on OK and the first paragraph will be shaded.
Sometimes a document can look messy as it has either a Widow or an Orphan at the start or at the end of a document. Widows and Orphans are a line of text on its own separated from the main paragraph. A Widow is the last line on a
page and an Orphan, is the first.
Click on Format then Paragraphs/Line and Page breaks