Is it acceptable to single space after a period if I'm using Courier font in Microsoft Word? Will it look off or wrong? Is it considered improper?
I know back in the day, the standard was two spaces after a period, but I think that's changed to one space now. But I'm the furthest thing away from an expert in this matter, so please don't quote me on this.
My own feeling is that if you're using Courier, it's probably a good idea to use the double-space after a sentence. Courier is what the double-space was designed for, as Courier was a fairly 'open' font when it was used on a typewriter (probably designed for 'easy' character erasure or correction.) If you're using a condensed form of Courier, however, a double-space might not be necessary. It also depends on what you're writing and who will be receiving it, I suppose.
Thank you both for your help! It's just plain courier in Microsoft Word. It's for my manuscript, and I've been working on formatting it to send out to literary agents.
Just follow the guidelines for submission to particular agents, and you should be okay. Is there some reason you've picked Courier?
I liked the way it looked, and it has a good fit for the story. I'm starting to wonder if it's making things too complicated at this point and if I should scrap it for now and possibly revisit using courier at a later stage.
I'd say definitely use the specific guidelines your literary agents require. They, after all, are the one who will be reading what you send. And they get tons of submissions, and aren't likely to want to read any that are hard on the eyes. Do think when the last time was you read a book that was printed in Courier.
That's a fair point! I guess courier is dated, and there's no reason getting too fancy with fonts at this stage, what's important is the story. I'll probably change it to the standard Times New Roman in that case. Thank you for your input!
Yeah, the last thing you want is to get your MS rejected because of a font! Just see if you can find out ahead of time what they expect in terms of fonts. And if they don't list a particular requirement, I'd go with the safest options. Times New Roman is a good, readable font—and I think most systems accept it.
It'll also make it easier in terms of single-spacing and formatting the em-dash. That's all I needed to hear, thank you so much!
