Spaces (1 space or 2?)

Yes, there ARE several threads on this, I could find them in a few seconds, but I don't think this is that big a deal. Others may disagree.

I really don't think it's important thesedays. Maybe if you print your MS in Courier (monospaced font), you should have two spaces after each period. If you're printing in Times New Roman, it may not be easily noticeable, and may not matter. Text rendered in HTML has extra consecutive spaces ignored (except for special cases such as "code"), so it REALLY doesn't matter there.

The really good news is you can type it in however you want or are used to, and then do a (maybe two) find-and-replace command to change all the instances to the other way if needed.

Read the post immediately above this question.

Rochester said:

A related question...

I'm using two spaces after punctuation with the exception of question marks in dialogue.

Regarding dialogue in general, if there are several sentences in one piece of dialogue, do you put two spaces after the periods or not? This is of course assuming you are putting two spaces after the periods that aren't in dialogue.

Click to expand...

Two spaces are NEVER required in any context. 'Two spaces after periods' is a holdover from the days of typewriters when typefaces were monospaced and the extra space was needed to help the reader's eyes track the end of one sentence and the beginning of another. It had nothing to do with whether the period was in dialogue or narration.

Virtually all word processing programs today kern extra space after a period, so two spaces are no longer necessary, even if you're using a monospaced typeface such as Courier.

That said, using two spaces isn't going to garner you an instant rejection. (Or if it did, you probably wouldn't want to work with an editor that anal anyway!)

It takes time to get used typing only one space instead of two, and if you don't want to, there's no reason. It's quite easy to simply globally change two spaces to one. Or not to bother.

The main thing is to be consistent. Either always use two spaces or always use one. Don't mix.

Rochester said:

While I'm confident there is a thread that addresses this, one that I've probably even spent time in, I can't for the life of me find it right now.

And so...

When I grew up I was told two spaces after a period is the way to go. I find it difficult to do otherwise, but if need be I can teach myself to do one space.

Which is better?

Which is more widely used?

Which is most widely accepted in submission guidelines?

Click to expand...

Two spaces works fine for me.

The reason I ask is because while I usually use two spaces, when using dialogue, I am forced to only use one space between the end of the dialogue and the He said.

Click to expand...

But you don't use a period at the end of dialogue if you're writing 'he said' after:

'You always use a comma,' he said. 'With one space,' he added.

The result is my brain hurts... two spaces unless after dialogue? Is it as simple as that?

Click to expand...

For me: no dialogue tags, use two spaces.

At school we were always taught that it was two spaces after a full stop and one after a comma.

That's also the same way my typist at my day job was taught.

shaldna said:

At school we were always taught that it was two spaces after a full stop and one after a comma.

That's also the same way my typist at my day job was taught.

Click to expand...

Were you also taught the world is flat and that the earth is the centre of universe?

Oh dog, not this thread, not today

Here's your free patented mini history of typography.

Long ago, in an age that did not yet know the IBM Selectric Bouncing Ball typewriter, when Elves and Men fought together against the evils of Sauron--

Typewriters used to be monospaced. All letters in type took up exactly the same width. An uppercase W took up exactly the same square area as an e, and writers and typists used two spaces after all terminal punctuation marks (periods, question marks, exclamation points).

But then the Dark Lord IBM Sauron brought forth the IBM Selectric with the Bouncing Ball, and typewriters had proportional type, so that indeed, an uppercase W took up more space than did an e, and, in a new evil, the period already had an extra space following it so that only one space was needed after the period.

But then Microsoft and the Elves Apple and a loose cohort of thieves typedesigners created digital typefaces for the Laser Writer and computers.

They decided to create some proportional spaced fonts. So these fonts did not need the extra space after terminal punctuation.

Do or do not use two spaces after terminal punctuation. Just be consistent and prepared to do search-and-replace either way.

Two spaces is just fine. It's not a holdover at all with print manuscripts. Ink on paper is still ink on paper.

One space is just fine, as well.

But as a writer, I always use two, and as an editor, I marginally prefer two, just because every bit of extra editing spcae a writer gives my is a good thing.

But it really doesn't matter a flip. Anyone who even notices how many spaces you use has already lost interest in what you've written.

Derek is right

This always devolves into the "one versus two" debate.

The rule in the typewriting days was that two spaces were used after so-called "terminal" punctuation, which included:

. period (full stop in Britspeak)
! exclamation point
? question mark
: colon

For commas, semicolons, and single or double quotes you used one space after the punctuation.

I challenge anyone to find original documentation from the 1920s or 1930s that this "rule" came into being because of a general consensus that typewriter fonts, being monospaced, "needed" extra space after a period, space that a proportional font supposedly did not need. I do not think it had anything to do with the monospaced-versus-proportional-font issue. If anything, it is the proportional font, not the monospaced one, that would better benefit from having two spaces after a period. After all, proportional fonts are the ones that are scrunched together, not the monospaced ones.

In fact, the "rule" probably came about because some early, influential typing manual dictated the policy. The author of the manual probably thought that the extra white space looked nice. And, in fact, it does. White space always looks good. Try two or three spaces after a period in something written in a proportional font (the font that supposedly does not need the extra space), and you will be surprised at how nice the text looks.

In casually looking through older texts in proportional fonts, I have noticed that there is often a good bit of white space after periods and question marks and exclamation marks. It is very possible, if not probable, that some typesetting styles mandated extra white space after terminal punctuation, regardless of whether the font was monospaced or proportional.

Spacing of text has not followed a set of consistent rules throughout the history of printing. You, too, have probably noticed that older texts often put a space before certain marks of punctuation: for example, the semicolon.

As for the original issue of one-versus-two, I have been in both camps, but about twenty years ago I committed firmly to the one-space side. I think it is the best way to go, and I think that typing is now taught that way. I hope to God they are not trying to teach people to type with one space after a period in Courier, but two spaces in Times Roman.

By the way, even in the old days, the two-space rule did not apply to all periods, just to sentences. In abbreviations like *Mr.* you used only one space after the period. However, the "rule" led many careless people to use two spaces after *Mr.* or *Mrs.*, and it looked terrible. Similarly, in certain abbreviations, you had no space at all: Ph.D. and U.S.A.

People who grew up typing the old way (two spaces) are reluctant to change. Fortunately, we can use search-and-replace to change the spacing if we want to.

Roland
My essay on Courier

I was taught, from the days of typing, that there are two spaces after a period, even if it's dialog, but the two spaces then come after the quote, not between the period and quote (for us Americans).

As many have said, two spaces is a hold over. If you're in the habit of using two, keep doing it. If you're not, keep doing that.

I was able to break myself of the habit. Seemed like a lot of extra work for my thumbs.

Rochester said:

Let's say I write a short story and use two spaces after periods. Do I use two spaces after periods that are in dialogue too? Or do those only warrant the one?

Click to expand...

As has been said repeatedly,

Terie said:

The main thing is to be consistent. Either always use two spaces or always use one. Don't mix.

Click to expand...

Maryn said:

And on a somewhat lighter note, I read this as Elvis and Men and formed a very different mental image which was highly amusing.

Maryn, whose own jokes crack her up

Click to expand...

I am so glad I wasn't the only one who read it that way

Oh, I haven't picked a camp yet between one space or two. I'm gonna go with whichever one has the best BBQ and night time entertainment

jvc said:

Oh, I haven't picked a camp yet between one space or two. I'm gonna go with whichever one has the best BBQ and night time entertainment

Click to expand...

Two spaces comes with kalua pork, Memphis ribs, craft beer, bourbon, rye, and the best Margaritas outside of Santa Monica, CA (the home of the best Margaritas, ever).

Dialog, poetry, prose, it doesn't matter.

What matters is the punctuation mark.

Be consistent. Use the same number of spaces after all periods, questions marks, exclamation points, and, dog help us, interbangs, keeping in mind that all right-thinking booze-loving folk use two spaces after terminal punctuation.

Maryn said:

And on a somewhat lighter note, I read this as Elvis and Men and formed a very different mental image which was highly amusing.

Click to expand...

You didn't know Elvis was a Wood elf from Rivendell?

Medievalist said:

Two spaces comes with kalua pork, Memphis ribs, craft beer, bourbon, rye, and the best Margaritas outside of Santa Monica, CA (the home of the best Margaritas, ever).

Click to expand...

I'm sold, I'll be there in half an hour