• Basic Writing questions is not a crit forum. All crits belong in Share Your Work

How many spaces after a colon?

Status
Not open for further replies.

kaitie

With great power comes
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
10,994
Reaction score
2,525

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
43,746
Reaction score
8,652
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.amazon.com
one.


unless you mean a real colon, then it'll be the length of the rec... (oh, is it bad that I say the word?)
 

dpaterso

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
18,802
Reaction score
4,591
Location
Caledonia
Website
derekpaterson.net
Back in the typewriter day, when fading ink ribbons could result in commas being mistaken for periods and vice versa, typists were taught to insert 2 spaces after the period to differentiate between the two. Ditto with colons and semicolons, 2 spaces after a colon, 1 space after a semicolon.

These days, with word processors and laser printers and whatnot, I dunno if it makes a difference. So the answer is probably, use one space or two, doesn't matter, as long as you keep it consistent.

-Derek
 

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
2,309
Reaction score
128
Location
Netherlands
Website
www.peccarymagazine.5u.com
dpaterso already explained where the whole idea of 2 spaces came from. Gee, I feel old. I had a typewriter when I was younger. Anyway, don't make things more complicated then they need to be. Now that we have computers you only need one space no matter what the punctuation mark is.
 

kaitie

With great power comes
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
10,994
Reaction score
2,525

Julie Worth

What? I have a title?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
5,198
Reaction score
915
Location
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I put one space after everything. That allows me to do a find and replace on two spaces for one, keeping everything consistent. If someone's house style is different, they can change it themselves.
 
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
47,985
Reaction score
13,245
One.

I had never, ever heard of this 'two spaces' thing before joining AW and I learned to type on a typewriter.

A split-level finger-mangler too, none of your electric gubbins.
 

dpaterso

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
18,802
Reaction score
4,591
Location
Caledonia
Website
derekpaterson.net
I had never, ever heard of this 'two spaces' thing before joining AW and I learned to type on a typewriter.
You'll appreciate that international typing standards were defined long, long before you tapped out your first swear word. Pitman courses trained typists to use 2 spaces after period and colon.

-Derek
 
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
47,985
Reaction score
13,245
Quite.

But even after mixing with other writers in real life (not for me, hence my appearance online) I never heard any of them mention this formatting 'rule'.

And I'm speaking as someone who knows Pitman's.
 

Mara

Clever User Title
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 21, 2009
Messages
1,961
Reaction score
343
Location
United States
My idiot, living-in-the-Dark-Ages high school keyboarding teacher taught us all that crap, and now I can't stop myself from putting two spaces after periods, question marks, and exclamation marks. I have to use Find and Replace to fix it. Grrr...
 

CaroGirl

Living the dream
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
8,368
Reaction score
2,327
Location
Bookstores
When I first learned to type I used two, but I've since managed to retrain the brain (and fingers) to use only one. Some software applications will allow only one space after any punctuation. I loves those applications.
 

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
43,746
Reaction score
8,652
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.amazon.com
I learned to type on a typewriter (yes, I'm 65 years old!!!!) and I only learned to put two spaces after a period, not semicolon or colon -- there was only one space.
 

kaitie

With great power comes
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
10,994
Reaction score
2,525
I learned to type on a computer and I learned two spaces instead of one. It often depends on the manuscript style as well. AP is actually one after a period, whereas uh...that other one I used to use in school I can't remember the name of was two. Annoying. I do two after periods because that's how I was taught and it looks weird to me otherwise.

Oddly, my thinking was more that the answer had to do with what came after the colon than anything else. Namely, if it was a complete sentence it would be two spaces and if not it would be one. I clearly had no idea what I was talking about. :tongue However, this has cleared up the answer quite well--either one is fine!
 

Kisatchie

I stop at railroad crossings
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
131
Reaction score
15
Location
St. Joseph, Louisiana
I only put one space after any punctuation. I've been using typewriters (and then computers) since I was ten years old (1960).
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
I use one space after a colon, two after a period as writer. Two is the way I was taught, and as an editor, I appreciate all the extra space a writer can give me.

But it really isn't an issue. Anyone who notices how many spaces you put after a period has already lost interest in what you actually wrote.
 

Deleted member 42

It's a single space after a colon, period, question mark, or exclamation point.

It's only important in that it helps you look like a professional.

That said, if a publisher or editor asks you to use three spaces, and Comic Sans 19 point in flamingo pink, then by golly, you do it with a smile and be ready to grab the check.
 

NeuroFizz

The grad students did it
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Messages
9,493
Reaction score
4,283
Location
Coastal North Carolina
Agree with Lisa. If the writing between and around the punctuation marks is interesting and publishable, I doubt an agent or editor will give a rat's arse about being colonic over spacing.
 

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 6, 2007
Messages
3,415
Reaction score
440
Location
Lewiston, NY
I can't believe we can find this many people to comment on a space. Imagine what would happen if we had something of substance to discuss.
 

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
43,746
Reaction score
8,652
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.amazon.com
The problem is when the writer is inconsistent. A space here and two spaces there. It makes the typesetter's job very difficult to conform to house style. The "search and replace" function doesn't always work so well.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
The problem is when the writer is inconsistent. A space here and two spaces there. It makes the typesetter's job very difficult to conform to house style. The "search and replace" function doesn't always work so well.

It doesn't bother any typesetter I know. Spacing is the one area where nothing in the manuscript matters in the least to the typesetter. If you quadruple space between sentences, paragraphs, or anywhere else, his job is to simply follow house style in these areas.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
It's a single space after a colon, period, question mark, or exclamation point.

It's only important in that it helps you look like a professional.

That said, if a publisher or editor asks you to use three spaces, and Comic Sans 19 point in flamingo pink, then by golly, you do it with a smile and be ready to grab the check.

I agree with the other punctuation, but single space after a period doesn't make a writer look one bit more professional. Less so, to many of us.
 

Deleted member 42

I agree with the other punctuation, but single space after a period doesn't make a writer look one bit more professional. Less so, to many of us.

Actually, that's a good point--let's say it adds a small extra step.

OK?
 

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
43,746
Reaction score
8,652
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.amazon.com
It doesn't bother any typesetter I know. Spacing is the one area where nothing in the manuscript matters in the least to the typesetter. If you quadruple space between sentences, paragraphs, or anywhere else, his job is to simply follow house style in these areas.

Yes, but he has to FIND all that stuff to change it. If he doesn't know there's a quadruple space somewhere, he won't be able to change it and then the galley comes back and someone says, "Why the heck does it look so far apart?" That's why I say "consistent." If there are always four spaces after a colon, the typesetter can simply search and replace.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.