Hi! I'm working on my first novel (tween/YA fantasy fiction) and just trying to go where the story takes me. I like the Oxford comma and two spaces after a period. Sue me. Hopefully I can find good advice from real writers on this forum when I (inevitably) get stuck. Thanks for having me!
Hi, pmw7913 I'm one of the moderators here, and also a fan of the Oxford Comma and the two spaces ...but I'm OLD. I want to welcome you to the forum, which is mostly younger than me. I'm delighted that you've decided to write a novel. I guarantee that writing mine was the most fun I'd ever had sitting down. I made EVERY creative writing mistake in the book, and only started learning what I'd done wrong after I'd finished, but my enthusiasm was undiminished during the creative process. I'll never write a first novel again, but I'm glad I did it that way. Write without fear; edit without mercy is still my operational maxim. Anyway, may I suggest you take a look at these two links (if you haven't already.) They will get you started and keep you right, regarding how we operate here on the forum. New Member Quick Start Forum Rules Feel free to explore around. Take your time. Get to know us, and let us get to know you. Go ahead and make comments on any thread that draws your interest and sparks something you want to say. Check the 'sticky' threads in each section, because they often contain rules, requirements or restrictions that pertain only to that section. If you encounter any difficulties, don't hesitate to contact me via a 'conversation' ...just click my owl avatar and follow the signs. I'll do my best to help. Enjoy! Cheers, Jan
Two spaces after a period is just creating something that will need to be fixed. If a story needs too much work, it's a reason for rejection. I suggest breaking this habit. Even if you sell you writing, it just means you are the editor are going to need to go through everything and fix that. No one is going to sue you for putting in two spaces, but it's not doing you any favors and could end up hurting you.
Don't call my bluff. My lawyers are on it already. And as far as I'm concerned the Oxford comma isn't a style choice. It's there to tell the reader that the last two items in your list don't necessarily go together. I bought some eggs, milk, cheese, and crackers Isn't the same as: I bought some eggs, milk, cheese and crackers. The latter suggests the cheese and crackers came as one item, packed together in a box or some such.
Fortunately, for those of us who learned fluent 10-finger typing back in typing class, many moons ago—which always included the two spaces after the end of every sentence—there is a workaround to help us deal with our well-ingrained habit of a lifetime. I can resist putting the two spaces in—which is kind of like NOT flushing a toilet because somebody told you not to—but that doesn't work unless I'm specifically thinking about it every time I end a sentence. Or I can backtrack and remove the extra spaces every time I notice I've done it again. OR ...I can simply run the entire piece through the find/replace facility in my wordprocessing programme. (I use Apple's Pages, but I believe this facility exists in Word, and probably any other wordprocessing programme worth its salt.) You can do this on a daily basis, or wait till the whole thing is done. Works a treat. I wouldn't let worrying about this easily fixable issue to hamstring your writing flow. If your instinct is to put in two spaces, just do it. Just remember you WILL need to remove them before formatting for submission to agents, or for self-publication. Like it or not, it's the modern format.
I agree with @jannert. I’d once written about 7000 words of one of my many ‘won’t-be-novels’ in third person when I decided to switch to first. It wasn’t the easiest thing ever but I did manage it using the ‘find/replace’ feature.
