I use two spaces because that's how I was taught to type. Sentences look too crowded with one space in between them, in my opinion. But if that's what an editor wants, I'll change it in a heartbeat! lol
I know I'm coming in waaay after this has grown cold, but per-leeeese! The first people to operate typewriters were certainly NOT men! 'Typewriters' were women clerks specially trained to do the--slightly menial--job of operating the new machines, which had small keys, some much more suited to tiny feminine fingers. They little knew they were heading a revolution in terms of providing legions of women with respectable employment--and in the business world, to boot. As for the full stop after a title ('the spot plague', Fowler), British English dislikes intrusive punctuation and anything else--like double spaces--which halts the reader in a text, in both manuscripts as well as published work. I refer the interested to Fowler's Modern English Usage (or any other reputable magazine's guidelines). Of course, there are always exceptions to the no double space convention--go with house style, but if it's not specified, in the UK you won't be expected to double space.
Open a book from any major publisher and you will find that all of the spaces are different widths because they use kerning and professional typesetting. If they need extra padding in a line the spaces after major stops will be stretched more. If they need to squeeze a line the spaces after major stops will be squeezed less. If you are self-publishing that's relevant, otherwise not and you should to send what the publisher's house style dictates no matter how it's going to end up in the finished book.
This is my view - if I need to change it I will, but when I learned to type at school for my highers it was double spaces, and personally I prefer it. It adds emphasis and clarity to the text.
And it's a lot easier to change all double spaces to single spaces (search & replace) than it is to change just the spaces after major stops to double spaces (go through manuscript manually).
that to lol So far it hasn't been given as a reason anyone rejected my manuscript but we will see if it crops up. I will change it if I have to.
I was always taught to use two spaces but in legal drafting I think the custom is to use only one space. In my own writing I use two spaces but I'm aware that this is probably just habit and the reason I think it looks better. From what I've read here we should call it a tie between the 1 Stop and 2 Stop camps.
How many votes were there for the "do whatever the style guide for the publisher to whom you're submitting says" camp?
I've always used two spaces just because I think that's what I was taught and it's hard to break out of that habit. But if I need to change it for some reason then I'm not exactly going to make a big fuss about it.
most fiction publishers don't have a 'style guide' so you have to decide on your own... all i can say as an editor myself, is that i believe the majority of editors at those publishing houses will probably bless you for doubling and curse you for singling...
I took a close look at a couple high-quality books. The space between the sentences seems larger, but on closer examination this is often due to the nature of the following capital letter, and that it's not kerned back towards the dot. An 'A' or a 'T' for example seem to take up more space. The actual space is not an exact amount, but varies with the content. I had to search a while for a "Dr. Whatever" in the middle of a sentence, and it was closer together.
looking at books to determine ms styling is a waste of time... a ms is not supposed to be the same as a book page... you must follow standard ms format, period! see here for the details: http://www.shunn.net/format/
S p a c e s I always do two spaces. I think it makes the writing more varied to read. But as long as its consistent I dont think it matters
very interesting article. I always learned it two for periods, one for comma's as a way of differentiating between the different pauses in writing. similarly one for semicolons and two for colons again to differentiate between the two. In fact, I'm still doing it now!
Almost the same here. I was taught two spaces between sentences, one otherwise. So I'd only put one space after a colon, but two after a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
The Chicago Manual of Style, the AP Stylebook, and the Modern Language Association all recommend that you use one space after a period. Unless otherwise told, just use one space.
This is exactly what I was taught when I took a typing class in high school. [circa 1994] I still do these things now and I doubt at this point I could stop myself from hitting space bar twice at the end of my sentences.
I was taught this way too. Even writing programs (MS Word for example) automatically put two spaces after a period if you only put one.
Not by default it doesn't. Most fonts are spaced so that there is a slightly larger gap after the period, but Word doesn't insert two spaces by default (although you can make it, if you want). And, unfortunately for those of you taught that way, virtually every modern style manual recommends (or demands) a single space. Spacing issues are resolved by the font and by dynamic spacing--there's no need to add an extra space as there was with typewriters and early word processors.
I never knew about a two space rule until now, and I have never typed two spaces anywhere. I use the typesetting software LaTeX for my manuscripts and books, and I have just checked to see what it does about this. I know that it automatically combines more than one space typed in the source code into one while compiling, but I have also just discovered that it automatically creates a double space after full stops and colons. I never knew about that until now! When copying and pasting the text out of the PDF file, the double space is turned back into one, so there are no issues with this. All this has merely redoubled my love for LaTeX. I would strongly recommend it over Word any day.
My fifth-grade teacher told me about this rule only once, so I never got around to making double-spacing a habit . Good thing I didn't, apparently.
Not really. As I mentioned, if you use a word processor it's just a couple of clicks to go from double space to single space (but hard work to go the other way). As double space between sentences is mandated in my workplace, and I spend most of my time writing documents, double spacing is definitely a good habit.
